Enter the Nappa
by Yakuman
Summary: I, the mighty Nappa, should have fallen on Earth. It was Goku who saved my life and that was when everything changed. I never thought I would join him, but I did. We were originally going to have him join us and fight Frieza. In the end, I guess that didn't change. After that though, it was different. Let me tell you my story of when I joined his side and the adventures afterwards.
1. Chapter 1

Everything had started off so well, too. I arrived, nuked a city, planted some saibamen, coached those saibamen, and killed several of this planet's strongest fighters. All that ended once Kakarrot finally showed up and he ruined everything. He somehow healed his friends, not even sure how the hell that works, and then moseyed up to go toe to toe with me, the great Nappa. Cocky little race-traitor; he would be easy pickings just like the rest of his comrades. I had everything under control, I had thought to myself. Sure, he dodged a couple of blows, he's fast, whatever. Nothing I couldn't keep up with.

I shook with rage; aware of how stupid I looked right then. How could I say that I'm in control of the situation, when Kakarrot's literally standing on my head?!

I clapped my hands hard above my head to catch Kakarrot, but he managed to get away. Suddenly a sharp pain exploded in my gut, as his elbow lodged itself into my stomach.

"That was for Chiaotzu." Kakarrot said hotly.

I furiously kicked at the low class dog in response, but instead got launched into the air by a swift kick. All his blows were actually hurting me! It didn't make any sense! How the hell could he be this strong?! Even Raditz had outmatched Kakkarrot in battle! I couldn't believe that the reading from Vegeta's scouter was accurate, but if not, then how the hell did he get this strong? It can't be right, it can't be!

We clashed against each other again and again, and each time I was being dominated. This isn't funny, this wasn't fair, and this wasn't fun. None my energy blasts fazed Kakarrot. Every punch I threw was dodged. Any attack I tried was countered and I was getting tired of being knocked back over and over again. I was being toyed with, like some kind of combat greenhorn. This is absolutely absurd, and my damn blood pressure is getting to me, I'm so god damn mad that it wasn't funny. I can't even concentrate, my form probably looks like trash, and I think my vision is failing… Kakarrot knocked me away again, why the hell can't I connect a single blow?!

The two Earthlings from the peanut gallery were talking amongst themselves and cheering the lower-class punk on, but it was Vegeta's words that caught my attention.

"NAPPA! Get ahold of yourself, fool! He can't beat you if you keep your head! Calm down!"

Like ten gallons of water dumped over a lit matchstick, my rage disappeared, replaced only with surprise. I blinked, then grinned, thankful towards Vegeta for catching me before I really lost it, but he simply turned away looking annoyed. Par for the course, really.

With my mind clear, I looked calculatingly at my prey. I noticed that Kakarrot was smiling too back at me with an eagerness that wasn't there before. So life on this peaceful planet didn't suck all the saiyan out of him after all huh? Good, enjoy it while you can.

"Are you ready, Kakarrot?"

"Ah, that's it." Kakarrot breathed, "THIS is what I wanted."

I couldn't help but chuckle and grin harder, powering myself up to my maximum. I focused my energy into to my fingers and repeated the devastating blast that took out that city earlier. Come on Kakarrot, take the bait...

Kakarrot flew out of the explosion as I had planned. "You're mine!" I bellowed, flying right at him. We exchanged a much more even series of punches. It was a much more even fight, I got some good blows in and his weren't always connecting anymore. Yes, Yes! This was a fight now, now we're talking! He and I disengaged and stood face to face, just a few feet away from each other. Kakarrot beamed from ear to ear, "Yeah! That was much better!" Patronizing punk, I'll show him what I'm capable of.

"I'll make sure that's the last wisecrack you ever make…" Energy grew in my stomach at an enormous rate. "This is it, Kakarrot!" I felt the dense, massive energy move up to my throat, I opened my mouth wide. Kakarrot realized what I was doing, too late!

The enormously powerful attack that vomited from my mouth went directly at Kakarrot and connected. I saw it connect, it was a direct hit! Once the dust cleared though, my jaw dropped. Not a scratch. Not a single God damn scratch. I'm honestly shocked, because that was my strongest attack, and it's never failed me before, damn. Think Nappa, think, you can do this, everyone's watching…

"That's enough! Get down here, Nappa! It'll take forever with you! I'll finish him myself!"

Oh God damn it… Locking eyes with Kakarrot, I sighed. I was enjoying myself so much too, right after I regained control. Sure, this would have been a long fight, but I would have been able to come out the victor. Vegeta takes all the glory for himself, Kakarrot's execution was supposed to be mine! Well, Vegeta was my prince so he had the final say in anything and everything. That was the rule. Crap. Now I'm in a bad mood. Need something to do, need something to break…

I looked at the two Earthlings just watching the fight. Spectators in a battlefield? Well, they're going to paint this wasteland red, starting with the bald one, I laughed, and charged the two little fighters.

"Gohan! Kuririn!" That was Kakarrot's voice, well too bad, they pissed me off. They're mine now. I was closing in on them, and I entered killing range. If my mouth blast didn't faze Kakarrot, I wonder how these two woul-

I felt a cannonball crush my spine. 'That hurt' doesn't adequately describe the pain that I felt in that moment. Suddenly, my entire body felt as though it was being electrocuted, and my legs were numb and searing intermittently. I wasn't able to think coherently at this point, as all the pain receptors of my body were all screaming in agony. This lasted for a few seconds, until there was a cool numb feeling, I was being carried by Kakarrot on one arm, and that I definitely couldn't feel my legs.

Kakarrot threw me onto the ground, like an employee in a pizzeria throwing dough. I'd make a comment on how much of a dick move that was if I wasn't in so much pain. Oh Gods, it hurt so damn bad.

"He won't be fighting anymore. Take him home, and stay there."

Oh Gods, what happened…? I couldn't move, this was a pain unlike any other. It hurt, it hurt so badly. Maybe Vegeta didn't appreciate just how much in pain I was in? "It… It hurts…" I coughed.

There wasn't any response from him. Maybe he didn't hear me? Vegeta was always the quiet wrathful one, a definite hardass, but surely he would be moved from a direct plea.

"V…Vegeta.. H…Help me…."

I reached out to my prince; even though it hurt to move. I was in agony; my back was most definitely broken. I couldn't feel my lower half; my upper half was in shambles. To my mild surprise and thanking my Saiyan Gods, the prince grabbed my hand without badmouthing me at all, everything was going to be okay now. This was good.

"Thank you... Vegeta…"

"No problem", Vegeta said with a smirk, and then squeezed my hand tighter. That… that hurt. What was he doing? He then threw me into the air before I had the chance to object. My body was being electrocuted with pain again, but the fear was overwhelming.

I yelled out, "What are you doing?! Vegeta! Vegetaa!"

Vegeta grinned evily, and spat out "What good are you if you cannot fight?!" He got into a pose I knew too well and saw him powering up. No...

I was tossed helplessly further and further from them, watching Vegeta's power shake the Earth. I knew what was about to come. This can't be happening! How could he kill me, Nappa?! I practically raised the whelp, I trained him, I fought with him! We're comrades! But there he was, looking to send a burst of power that would definitely incinerate me!

"N…No!"

The energy blast exploded out of Vegeta and cleared the distance between us, I was moments away from being obliterated. Cold acceptance washed over. So this is it, this was the end.

But instead of the terrible burning I expected, a kick from a heavy boot to my already broken back sending me flying down into the ground, crashing into the rocks. The rubble dug into my flesh. The pain was very real, so I knew I wasn't dreaming. As I could both feel pain and could acknowledge that I was in pain, I concluded that I wasn't dead yet.

With electricity running through my body with every slight movement, I struggled to get my face out of the rocks, and through my efforts the rocks crumbled beneath me, causing me to be flipped on my back roughly. It hurt like hell but now I could see, worth it.

Kakarrot floated above the rubble, the two small ones in each of his arms. They were hovering just a short distance from me. Vegeta was still right where he stood when he threw me, not looking pleased at the unexpected intervention.

The brat piped up first, "Dad, how did you, and why did you save the big guy. He killed a lot of our friends, he's a bad man!" The bald one shook his head, "Goku, what are you thinking? I know the little guy's a monster for wanting to kill his own friend, but why did have to risk all of us to save him?"

Kakarrot let go of both of them, letting them float in front of him. "Sorry guys, he was helpless. He wasn't a threat to anyone anymore, and it would have been a waste for him to die." Kakarrot looked guilty, and then his face changed to be serious as it did in the beginning of their fight.

"That's not important now though, the both of you need to get out of here. Take the big guy and take him to Kame House too. I don't need to tell the both of you, but right now he's not a threat to anyone, much less you two. His ki is draining fast, and I think he might also need some medical attention. It doesn't make sense for him to succumb to his wounds after I just saved him."

The bald man piped up "He certainly deserves it, come on Goku, he really gave us all the beating of our lives, and what about the other guy, his power's enormous. Are you sure you don't need our help? We could just let the big lug rot and take him on together, besides, what's stopping him from just killing all of us once he gets better? It doesn't make any sense Goku!"

Kakarrot shook his head "No, no. It wouldn't be right. I need to fight him alone, and besides, about the big guy, I can handle him just fine if he tried anything, but something tells me he wouldn't, especially after we saved his skin, that other guy though…"

Shows what he knew, they were the enemy, and if they were stupid enough that a simple betrayal and their saving my life meant that I'd be licking their boots, they're dead wrong. Ugh, he did save my hide, and I'm not sure on my status with my partner, I needn't be so rash yet. Damn this hurts though. I controlled my breath, the pain abated steadily. Better. I still won't be licking any boots, none.

My former superior shouted out at last "What's the holdup boy? Lost your nerve? Expect a crippled old man to help you in your time of need? Think again, his power pales in comparison to mine, even if he could walk normally."

There was truth to what Vegeta said, but I didn't like it. I groaned, I didn't like that I was shown mercy to, but I'd accept it. Begrudgingly, with no boot licking. I didn't much know about back injuries, but it wouldn't be anything that would be life threatening, right? I mean, I saw a couple crippled saiyans before the planet exploded, but that wouldn't be me, right? Best not to dwell on it too much, a doctor would be able to confirm or deny my fears. Ugh. I couldn't feel my entire lower half, and that sucked. I certainly can't fight without my entire lower half, and that sucked even harder.

Kakarrot descended to the ground despite the bald one's attempts to get him to come back. He stepped to the ground with and pointed in some direction. Both he and Vegeta flew off without a word.

Meanwhile, as the two flew away, the other two landed next to my body. I looked at the bald man's face, which was hard and angry. The Kakarrot's brat clung close to the man; obvious fear was stamped on his face.

"This as awkward for you as it is for me?" I began, humor was the best medicine for tension.

The boy stammered incoherently at the sight of me, while the bald man approached.

"Hey Gohan, do you think if he kicked the bucket accidentally your dad wouldn't put two and two together?" the bald man asked, opening his palm in my direction.

"Huh, wha, guh, what do you mean Kuririn?" The boy stammered even harder, looking at chestnut head and me rapidly.

I grinned, it was too good to be true after all. "I don't blame you shorty. All's fair in war" I finished somberly. I wasn't about to beg for my life. I lived a good 56 years. I wasn't alright with Vegeta finishing me, but to die to an enemy was something that I had been trained to expect sometime in my life. I saw the bald one, Kuririn's palm glow softly, as if he was charging an energy attack to finish me. That's the way I wanted to go, quick and painless. I'll tell my ancestors that I died in battle, taken down by an overwhelming force.

"Why did you come in the first place? Revenge for killing that asshole Raditz?"

"I have no obligation to answer anything. And another thing, Raditz was-" I started breathing sharply, moving even in the slightest bit was enough to bring the electricity back again to cause me terrible pain. Have to keep my words short, and try not to react with much movement. "Raditz was alright."

"The guy who came down to Earth to steal our friend was alright. He sent me crashing through the side of my master's house, he kidnapped his nephew, beat the crap out of his brother, and told him to make a pile of dead people for him. Sounds to me like he was an asshole." Kuririn responded bitterly.

I frowned, "He was a solider and it was his mission to bring Kakarrot back from what we thought was a ruined planet. Raditz wanted a pile of bodies? After he got it he would have probably would have used that to cover for Kakarrot, and save his brother from being labeled as a traitor."

The energy ball in his hand grew larger. "So what if he was a traitor?! He would never join you or your evil group. Being a saiyan has nothing to do with anything, he's our friend, and you had no right to interfere with his life!" Kuririn yelled out angrily

I turned my head to face the furious short man, obviously he didn't understand. "The only person that gave a damn about Kakarrot was Raditz in the first place. Had he been true to his mission assignment, he would have killed Kakarrot when he realized the planet wasn't neutralized. Instead he risked his own skin to cover for his brother. Or maybe you think that I don't know what it's like being a solider from birth, and Vegeta is the forgiving type?"

Kuririn stared at me, anger still obvious in his eyes. At last he sighed and looked away, his energy blast disappearing into sparks. He walked over to my side, then to my head, and looked perplexed and annoyed. Finally he took my arm and hoisted me over his shoulder. "I want you to know, you weigh a ton, and you suck."

You know, I'd just finished thinking that moving caused me terrible pain and the chestnut headed man was probably being deliberately clumsy, "I want you to know, THIS HURTS LIKE HELL." I snapped.

Seemed like I wasn't going to get the Viking styled death that I wanted, but I'll get another shot later.

"Be grateful that Goku thought it was a great idea to spare your life. I don't get it at all…" The chestnut man ascended into the sky, and with the boy following closeby, they floated off to what I could only assume would be the "Kame House" that Kakarrot had mentioned.

We traveled rather slowly in silence. I let my mind wander in the quiet journey. Vegeta, my prince, the whelp that I raised since he was a toddler, my comrade, just tried to kill me. He would have succeeded if not for Kakarrot's inexplicable intervention. I couldn't quite define the feeling I had for Vegeta right now. The cold sting of betrayal from my partner hurt my heart, I would admit that freely. I wanted to scold Vegeta, to tell him that that's not how you treat your comrades, but my position to scold the prince had passed long ago. I wanted to make Vegeta pay for discarding me like useless trash. To what extent? I'll decide on that later should that time ever come.

The silence, and by proxy my thoughts, were interrupted by Kakarrot's son.

"Hey Kuririn, why do you think Dad made us bring this guy to Kame House?" the boy asked quietly, but loud enough to hear.

"I don't know Gohan. I've known your dad since we were kids and he's done a whole number of unbelievable things that I can't make heads or tails of. This isn't the most absurd thing he's done, and I've seen a boat load of them."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Gohan asked, interested greatly.

"Huh? Well, what do you know so far? Your dad's life since I met him has been pretty wild."

"Well, dad doesn't talk much about himself, and mom wouldn't tell me anything, just to study and to become a scholar."

"Woah, where to begin. I mean, I don't know if that Raditz guy was telling the truth about sending babies to nuke planets bu-"

I needed to cut in. "It's very true. Our newborns were sent to weaker planets so that they can be claimed by the empire," I interjected flatly.

"Well Goku obviously didn't do anything like that." Kuririn snapped. Gohan was looking at him with interest, wanting him to continue.

Kuririn noticed and continued. "We both trained under the great turtle hermit Master Roshi… and-"

I listened to the tales of Kakarrot as told by the small human Kuririn. At first I wasn't paying much attention, more focused on my own situation but I found myself listening to the story as intently as Gohan. Hearing about Kakarrot's adventures, the mystic dragon balls, several fighting tournaments made me reassess Kakarrot's status, although only slightly. Hearing about how he obliterated an army base and killed off a so-called demon king also amused and impressed me. I thought Kakarrot was much too soft for that. After all, he spared me, someone who killed some of his friends mentioned in the stories. The odd man, Kuririn had gotten to the part with the rematch with the Namekian.

"And so, your dad, that crazy son of a gun feeds him a Senzu bean, and Piccolo jumps up and throws himself far away from us as if we smelled funny or anything. The jerk wouldn't stop laughing and telling your dad he was foolish. I agreed with Piccolo, and Goku just looked happy." The chestnut headed man sighed a heavy breath. "We all thought he was insane keeping Piccolo alive, what with him being evil incarnate, but It turned out well for us, since he helped against the fight with Raditz, and he trained you Gohan, but Goku made a call that worked out well for us."

"Wow… my Dad's had a really interesting life."

"That's for sure, Gohan," Kuririn chuckled, "But so far, no matter how much your dad has made us worry, everything's always worked out just fine, like he says it will. I mean, besides the Red Ribbon Army incident."

I moved my lips to a smile, the pain was negligible. "Hah, he sounded like Raditz at that part of the story. Completely obliterates an army base in a day, then comes back to report as if nothing major happened. That guy." I finished, with a hint of fondness.

Gohan looked at me, obviously some of the fear towards me wore off, "So he was your friend?"

I took a moment to answer, trying to assess my relationship with Raditz. I never really had to think about it. Much less put it to words. At last I answered, "Yeah, he was. I've known him since he was a whelp. He worked alongside us, and he was as loyal as you could get. He was strong, a bit of a coward though. I miss that long haired bastard."

Kuririn narrowed his eyes distrustfully. "Well, I guess you guys can't be all evil."

"Yeah, that'd be our boss." I responded loosely.

Gohan looked at me curiously, "You mean Vegeta?"

I choked "Hell no, I mean Lord Frieza, he's a -"

A sudden shining light in the sky behind him caused me to lose my train of thought, Kuririn and Gohan turned around to see the source.

Kuririn stared at it. "What's with that star… it wasn't there bef- Holy CRAP do you feel that Gohan?"

"Yeah… and someone's ki just exploded."

Curious, I looked at the direction of the star, noticed what it was, and then panicked. "Oh crap that's a power ball, put me down human, quick, I'm gonna…" It was too late. It had already begun. I couldn't control the transformation.

My vision blurred, and I felt my body begin to pulse. I was falling, the shorty must have dropped me. Well, it can't be helped. The landing wasn't pleasant, but the transformation process had a numbing effect that I greatly appreciated upon impact with the rocky ground.

My body pulsed rather violently, and I could feel more and more. It's a strange sensation, to grow into a behemoth. It starts out slow, but you get gradually larger until your body practically explodes in mass. I felt numb, but I could still feel my body against the ground, if that makes sense. My sense of touch expanded until I exploded in growth and fully turned into a giant ape I groaned loadly and deeply, and laid still.

The bald headed man looked to me to the direction of the fight rapidly. "Oh my God, this is ba- Gohan what are you doing?!"

The boy wasn't wasting any time, and was already flying back in the direction of the fight, but he stopped and looked over Kuririn. "I gotta help my dad, I can feel his ki slipping, he could die, I gotta do something."

"We have our own problems, look, Nappa's already full grown, he's gonna destroy th-"

I groaned loudly again to interrupt, on my back, in obvious pain. The numbing effect of the transformation process ended. Both fighters looked down at me. This was so embarrassing.

"My back's still broken. This sucks. I can't move." I winced, I moved my body so that the rocks didn't dig into me, but the movement sent more electricity to my upper body. Just what I needed. Now that I was a great ape, I wielded powers that would dwarf my original form, my five senses were sharper, and I was much faster and agile. Sadly, most of those benefits meant nothing due to my broken back, I could barely move without causing my giant self to feel great pain.

The chestnut headed man held his arms up to power up a blast, he looked afraid, "How can you talk, what are you planning, why are you a monkey, what's going on, what are you doing?!" He finished, if it wasn't obvious that he was afraid it was definitely obvious now. I couldn't help but laugh humorlessly.

"If you had given me some warning I wouldn't have looked directly at it. We can't control when we transform when we look at the power ball or a full moon. It's your fault. That's not really important right now, though, I can hear Kakarrot screaming, you might want to go help him."

"What, and leave you to destroy the Earth and everyone on it? Don't make me laugh! You're still weak, I could kill you right now! Gohan, come help me!" Kuririn shouted in a panic, charging up a blue beam. Gohan was looking from the direction of the fight to me rapidly, anxiously.

"Use your chestnut shaped head to think, if I'm an ape, Vegeta's an ape, and your only chance is to fight him as a team. Killing me won't help you at all. I won't cause your planet harm for now, promise." I sounded more annoyed than worried for my well-being. For good reason; irrationality in war was a pet peeve of mine.

A cold sweat ran down Kuririn's chestnut head, and the man dropped his hand again, dissipating the attack. "Okay, but mark my words if you do any wrong I will be putting you down!" With that, he flew away, racing in the direction of the fight with Gohan following him.

Hmph, not like they have a chance in hell now that Vegeta's gone oozaru. Maybe if Kakarrot still had his tail, they would have a chance. I closed my eyes to think about the situation. Vegeta was pushed by Kakarrot to turn into his great ape form? That's insanity, unless Kakarrot held back when we fought. That thought irritated me to no end. Damn him, I'll make him pay too. Then again, how the hell was he stronger than Vegeta?! I wasn't rooting for Vegeta, but I certainly wasn't rooting for the earthlings. Ugh, I don't know.

I did mean it when I said I wouldn't harm the planet. If I were to start anything I couldn't defend myself so for now I had to put up a white flag. Escaping the planet wasn't an option. I wasn't near my space pod, my controller was in my armor that I stupidly took off during those three hours, and I certainly can't ask Vegeta to call my space pod for me now that we weren't comrades anymore.

We weren't comrades anymore.

Thinking it let it sink in, and it hurt me more than I'd have thought. I closed my eyes and sighed heavily. "Damn it."


	2. Chapter 2

The mountains around me were quiet, and I was straining to hear what might be happening between Vegeta and Kakarot a few kilometers away. Since the three of us had been flying so slowly, we didn't cover much ground, but it proved to be far away enough that even as an oozaru, I could't hear anything right now. For Kakarot's screams to have carried over like they just did, he must have been really damn loud.

I gave up trying to hear anything. Time dragged as I could do nothing but lay there with nothing to look at but rock formations and the planet's deep blue sky. This was terribly boring. I finally groaned another titanic groan and allowed my mind to wander.

What would happen if those brats actually managed to beat Vegeta? I still liked the little bastard, even though I wasn't ready to forgive him for turning on me like that. Vegeta was strong, so he'd probably win, leaving me behind with this planet. I would die, of course, and it would be a slow death. The thought made me grimace. In that case, it would have been better to let the shrimp kill me, rather than die to starvation or heat stroke. Then again, knowing Vegeta, he would probably just destroy this planet out of spite after he went ape. That's not a good death either, though. What would I tell my ancestors in the next world? Oh hello father and greatfather-oh, how I died? I was collateral damage. Yes, that's right, our prince blew up a planet that I was on. No, no, he wasn't aiming for me. Yes, he knew I was still on it. No father, I didn't "cry like a bitch".

A small quake shook the ground and disturbed the area. Nothing massive, but it tore me away from my gloomy thoughts. I waited to see if anything would come from that quake, but nothing else happened. The constant pain from my back was tiring me out, but I experimentally tried to move my legs again. No good. My legs were still attached, right infront of me, but I couldn't get them to move. Damn it all. I sighed and closed my eyes, allowing my mind to wander again.

Vegeta never was normal, even as a boy. From birth he had a fighting power that outclassed his fellow saiyans, and he had a ruthless nature to match -as expected of our future king. But there was always a degree of coldness to his people that never felt right. He didn't look at Raditz and I normally. I mean, I always chalked this standoffishness to his being royalty, and the only prince of all the saiyans. Still, there wasn't any bond there. We were disposable.

I thought for sure we would revive Raditz with the Dragon Balls we'd heard about, but he shot down that idea without hesitation. For the sake of defeating Freeza, I agree that immortality would give us a greater edge in battle than having Raditz back. Raditz was the weakest of us three-four, apparently, if we're counting Kakarot. But I don't think Vegeta even cared that Raditz had died. That should have been my first red flag, I guess. That saibaman he executed should have been my second. Once I too lost to the Earthlings … he tried to kill me in cold blood.

Our trio was brought to a duo, and now it's a solo. Oh Vegeta, did you ever felt a kinship with us at all? We were the last of our proud race, and still you threw us away. Is your hatred for Frieza so intense that nothing else has meaning?

I sniffed sadly, but then shook my head violently, refusing to get too sentimental. My prince had his own path to walk, and I would no longer be walking with him. For now, I had to focus on whatever direction my own life would be taking, assuming I survived all this. Returning to Frieza's empire was not an option. Yes, Vegeta and I took a year-long vacation from our duties to plot against you. Our mutiny didn't go so well so here I am-also Vegeta's gone, and I know you only really cared about him. Please don't kill me.

I smirked to myself grimly. I'd be dead long before I could get the word "duties" out. Assuming my legs get restored through whatever medicine this planet has. If I can't move these legs though, well…

A loud boom echoed through the wastelands, and shook the earth, sending a sharp spike of pain up my lower back. What the hell was that? That wasn't normal. Or was it? I have no idea, screw this planet. It's been like half an hour since those two left me here alone.

But not long after that huge thud happened, I heard something approaching from the distance. It had to be an aircraft of some kind judging by the sound. I considered lifting my head, but opted out and just lay there. Maybe it was just a coincidence; I've seen many flying machines on this planet so far. Hopefully it would just pass me by. The last thing I needed was for some humans to poke and prod me curiously while I couldn't defend myself. I cursed my luck when it landed nearby, until my sharp hearing picked up some familiar voices from inside.

It was the boy and Chestnut-head talking, and I could have sworn I heard Kakarot as well. There were several unfamiliar voices inside too but that didn't matter to me much. So they really managed to win? That was a fight to the death we were in, Vegeta never spared anyone. I guess they're here to pick me up, but it didn't take a genius to see that I wasn't going anywhere for the time being.

There was no way a small flying ship like that could carry me in this state. At least I had company.

Realization hit me at that moment. They actually beat Vegeta. But that's impossible-he went Oozaru! Was my prince dead? I didn't want to think about it. Nothing is certain yet. I can't mourn him if I'm not absolutely certain, I need to know for sure.

The aircraft landed nearby rather clumsily, and the hatch on the side opened up. From the aircraft hopped out the short one, Kuririn. The little guy looked worse than when I was done with him, but his expression wasn't as hostile it had been before. I couldn't say the same for the people who came out next.

Behind him was a skinny old man with a white beard and big sunglasses, walking with a wooden cane. Floating in the air was some kind of squat white cat-thing. Weird. The cat's expression was unreadable, and the old man was definitely glaring at me from behind his sunglasses.

They didn't seem to be afraid me at all, despite me being fifty times their size, and I grinned at them, amused. "Well met, earthlings," I growled deeply. None of them flinched.

"I don't remember your voice being this deep. Did your injury mess up your voice too?" Kuririn said casually as he looked me up and down. "I can't carry you when you're this huge, you know."

The old man moved to stand next to my face, unintimidated. With his cane, he poked roughly at my nose. It didn't hurt, but I sure wasn't appreciating it. "Kuririn here says that you supposedly know of a way to bring back my students-our friends." His eyes narrowed. "The ones who you killed," he added harshly. "My name is Muten Roshi, the turtle hermit."

So it wasn't just some random geezer. "Yeah, Kuririn mentioned you too. You trained Kakarot and all those guys to fight."

"That's right," he said simply.

Moving my neck hurt, but I forced a nod. "They were skilled warriors, and they died with honor."

He lifted his sunglasses to meet my eyes directly. "Will you cooperate with us in bringing them back?

"Yeah." I didn't have to think about it. After these turn of events, there was no other option.

We stared at each other, not breaking eye contact. At last, Roshi put his sunglasses back on and turned away from me. "That's good, then." he said softly, as he walked back to the aircraft. Strange old man, but if he trained mere Earthlings to be on the fighting level as saiyan warriors, he wasn't one to trifle with.

Kuririn's voice broke the silence. "Alright, let's get you normal-sized again. Master Korin, could you help me?" The cat, apparently called Korin, floated to Kuririn's position and landed. For some reason, the two of them started pushing at my side, but they weren't making any progress. Before I could ask what the heck they thought they were up to. The cat spoke.

"Yajirobe!" he called, sounding annoyed. "Help me get this big lug on his side!"

A husky voice came out of the ship, shouting back with equal annoyance. "I'm not going anywhere near that monster! I cut off Vegeta's tail, so someone else can do his! Besides, someone has to protect Goku!"

With my acute hearing, I heard Kakarot speak softly. "It's fine, Yajirobe… I'm okay for a while."

The husky voice shushed him. "Goku, shut _up_."

I ignored the other voices in the ship jumping on that guy as I realized what the hell was going on. They did WHAT? They were going to do WHAT to ME?! "You want to cut off my tail?" I bellowed. "Why?!"

Kuririn had retreated a few steps at my outburst, but he just shrugged like it was no big deal. "We obviously can't take you to the hospital when you're a giant monster, so the only option is to cut off your tail to change you back. I said I couldn't carry you like this."

Was this some kind of joke?! "So you would castrate me for your convenience?! No! Do NOT cut off my tail! It's very important!"

The stout cat floated into my line of sight and cleared his throat. "Well big guy, here's the deal. If you're not human-sized we can't take you on board, and if we leave you here you die. You've got one of two options, death or catstration. Pick." The smile he gave me wasn't friendly at all.

Oh my God. I flailed my arms like crazy, making Korin retreat and Kuririn to strike up a fighting stance. I didn't care; this can't be happening THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING. NOT MY TAIL!

"It's not fair! You stingy Earthlings can't wait just two measly hours when I waited three for Kakarot to arrive?! I don't want to lose my tail, I don't want to be castrated, nooooooo!"

They tried to calm me down then, but nothing they could say would make me agree to this. I was flailing what limbs I had control over wildly. I had to fight somehow! I didn't want to be a tailless freak! This was absurd, this was… there were more voices now. I peeked over to check on these new people.

There was a blue haired and a dark haired woman now standing with them, along with Kakarot's kid. He and the dark haired woman were arguing, the woman insisting that he return to the ship.

The blue-haired woman was giving me a stink-eye with arms folded across her chest. A nice chest, I noticed. "That's better, now maybe you can act like an adult and tell us why you're freaking out so much, and as to why we should do anything your way after what you did to our friends."

Against my will, a small whimper escaped my throat. Some of their faces softened, and the cat started laughing. Crap, they all heard that. "I don't want my tail cut off-it's part of me. The Powerball will disappear in just another couple of hours, and I'll go back to my normal size then. It pained me to beg, but it would pain me more if I couldn't convince them. "Please don't remove my tail."

I noticed the kid, Gohan, was tugging on the blue haired woman's dress. "Uh, miss Bulma? Maybe it would be okay to wait for him. Two hours isn't that long, and they really did wait three for Dad to show up."

Patting Gohan on the head, Bulma gave me a look that I couldn't quite read and waved her hand in the air. "Well if you both ask me so nicely, how can I refuse? The problem, though, is that we can't really wait that long. Goku's in really bad shape, we need to get him to the hospital sooner than later…"

The dark-haired woman was hovering over the boy, checking his face and dusting off his hair obsessively. I couldn't really tear my eyes off of the two. Gohan caught me watching, then looked away startled. She noticed and glared at me. "What are you looking at?!" She yelled angrily. There was something scary behind that voice.

I sweat dropped. "N-Nothing, sorry." I didn't like that one.

I sighed heavily. All of this just sucked. The woman must have been thinking about something, because she was quiet for a while. She then looked at me. "Okay, we'll split up into two groups. I'm going to take the plane with Goku and head to the hospital. Some of our fliers will stay here with you until you shrink back down." She looked at Kuririn, "We'll double back to pick you guys up if you haven't arrived once we're all checked in."

"But Bulma!" The bald man protested. "We've been through hell and back, it's a wonder how I'm still standing!"

"So you can brag about it once you get this guy over to the hospital, you whiner!" The blue haired woman put her nose up at the little man. "Honestly, what's the big deal? You all fly much faster than my ship!" Unbelievable, Earth women are surprisingly ruthless.

Kakarott's kid declined allowing his mom to carry him back to the ship, insisting he could walk just fine. That was his mother huh? Kakarot knows how to pick them… The blue haired woman was also heading back to the ship with the two.

Walking closer to me, Kuririn sighed dramatically, obviously annoyed. "Well, I guess we'll give you two hours. The ball's been up for a while, since Vegeta turned ape, should be sooner than that. I've told the gang about the Dragonballs on Namek. We're going to come up with a way to make the journey there while everyone heals up."

"Sounds like you have everything figured out," I croaked. "Does that mean you have some way to treat me? 'Cause I'm pretty sure my spine is broken." I looked over at my legs. Dear Gods, the suspense was killing me. Am I a cripple or what?!

"Oh, you'll be fine." Kuririn waved a dismissive hand. "Goku's recovered from way worse."

This is what I needed to hear. I don't know how injured Kakarot is after fighting Vegeta, but he hadn't even come out of the plane with the others, so he must be in rough shape too. Yet despite that, his friends don't seem real worried. I guess the doctors on this planet were pretty amazing.

That Bulma woman was fiddling with a small white case. Behind that case was something that looked an awful lot like the remote control for an Attack Ball. I looked closer and decided it was definitely the remote control for an Attack Ball. Uh oh.

"Excuse me, uh, Bulma. That remote you have there, would that so happen to be Vegeta's remote control?" I asked carefully.

"Hm?" She looked at the remote, and then back at me. "Yeah, it is, why?"

"Would you be so kind as to…" I hesistated. God damn it. Out with it, Nappa! "Yes, would you please give that back to me? I feel safer with that in my possession."

Her face fell, then smirked, "I don't think so. It's not every day I can get my hands on alien technology like this, and I need to find out how it works to get us to Namek. Of course, you can have it back when I'm done, assuming you're a good boy and don't try anything funny with us."

She has no idea she's holding a literal bomb control in her hand. "Believe me, lady, I have no intention of stirring up any more trouble around here. I can tell you all about how that thing works if you want, but you really ought to give it back to me first."

Kuririn looked at me distrustfully. "Why's that? Gonna go follow Vegeta when you get the chance, bub? I don't think so. Bulma, don't give it to him."

Okay, I'm tired of this acting-nice crap. "Human woman! You will give that remote control NOW!" I yelled my voice more like a roar in oozaru form.

She yelped, and shrank back, but looked like she was about to throw the remote my way after all. However, Kuririn moved between us.

"Don't worry about him Bulma, and you, what's the matter with you? Is that any way to treat people going out of their way to helping you!?" Kuririn snapped.

"You can help me by not messing with things you don't understand!" I roared in response. "That remote controls my Attack Ball, including its self-destruct mechanism!"

Thank the gods, my words actually got through to them.

The blue haired woman practically was shrieking at me, "Well then why the hell didn't you say anything in the first place?! That ship's going to be our lifeline to get to Namek! I need it intact, or else I'll never see my boyfriend again!"

I heaved a sigh, then winced at the pain it created. "So cut me a break then, lady."

She stuck her tongue out at me, and handed the control to Kuririn. Whatever, it's fine so long as I know where it is, and no one's randomly pushing buttons on the damn thing. After that, she pulled two small objects from a case in her hand and gave those to him too. "These should be the ones you guys wanted. Alright, remember, once King Kong over here turns back to normal, start heading our way to the Wukong Hospital in West city. I'll double back for you guys if you don't show up by the time that Goku's all settled in." She gave gave a small wave to all of us, and headed back to the ship.

The ship took off, leaving only the cat, the old man, and the shorty behind with me. Kuririn casually threw one of the things Bulma had given him at the ground. With a *poof* some strange looking furniture popped into existence. A table and four puffy chairs surrounding it. Amazing, absolutely amazing! What kind of technology do these humans have access to that makes them be able to materialize items into thin air?!

As if it were no big deal to them, the masters both sat down on the magical furniture, and Kuririn tossed the other object in a similar manner to the first. It landed on top of the table and a square container of some sort appeared. Huh, what's in that box?

Before I could question it, he opened a door on the side of the box, which turned out to be packed full of chilled beverages. I knew it was cool because I felt the cold air escape and hit me, and it felt refreshing. My mouth had become dry as the desert around us during my time laying here, and I wanted a drink so bad I could die, but… in this form, my thirst couldn't be quenched even with all those drinks combined.

"So she's got orange, Hetab, beer, and grape soda," Kuririn said, looking through the container. Roshi picked the drink called Beer, Kuririn and Korin both picked Hetap. Kuririn looked over at me, all the tension and animosity from earlier gone. "How about you, big guy?"

"Shouldn't even bother for now. I'll take some when I'm back to normal," I said, despite wanting to down all of these exotic drinks. It'd be a terrible waste, I'd chug down a city's water reserves in this form if I could.

"You sure about that? One couldn't hurt." he said, holding up a can in offering.

I couldn't deny that. Damn it was hot. "I'll concede to that. Uh, give me the one you're having."

Without my needing to ask, he poured the whole can into my open mouth.

The flavor was amazing. There wasn't a fruit or meat or drink I've ever had that had this flavor before; it was hard to describe. It went down easy, and the aftertaste was divine. Surely there wasn't a fruit on this planet that could give this kind of flavor and fizz. Was it a mix of some kind? Refreshing didn't even cover it.

"It's good; thank you Kuririn," I said, slightly dazed.

"Holler if you want more," he said simply, sipping the contents of his own can.

"Just make sure to save me one for when I'm smaller."

He chuckled and nodded.

The old master Roshi took a chug from his can and let out a satisfied huff of breath. "So, Nappa was it? Your partner left you stranded here from what I understand."

Small talk. Great, just the thing to pass the time. Wait, stranded? "Wait, Vegeta left the planet?"

The floating cat explained further. "He high-tailed it out of here after getting the crud kicked out of him. Kuririn didn't give us the specifics, just that my boy Yajirobe de-tailed your buddy."

Kuririn balanced his empty can on one finger as he spoke. "The fight with Vegeta was intense. Goku couldn't even move anymore, and Vegeta was about to finish him off, but Yajirobe came out of nowhere and cut his tail clean off Everyone gave it their all, and finally we somehow managed to beat that guy. Vegeta called his space-pod thing over and was trying to escape in it. I was going to finish him off, but," He took a can labeled as 'Orange' this time, and opened it. "Goku made me let him go."

He released Vegeta? Whaaaat? "Wait wait. You guys beat Vegeta, but Kakarot just... let him go?" He nodded. "And you agreed to it?" He nodded again, and tilted his head a little. I started laughing. This was unbelievable.

My laughing grew harder, and the earthlings went from confused to surprised as giant tears started to roll down my face.

I was so happy; my prince got his ass kicked for the first time, and lived. I don't even need more details. He's alive, I'm not dead. This was the best news. I didn't have to carry the shame of letting my prince die. I got to keep my skin after he tried to execute me. There's still hope to make things right; our trio can return one day and then he won't be alone. I thought one of us had to die in order for the other to live in our situation, I never dreamed we both would make it through the day!

Kuririn was patting me on the side. "Hey, you alright?"

I sniffed, realizing I allowed myself to be vulnerable infront of my saviors. Captors? Whatever, time will tell. "It's nothing, it's just good to hear he's alive." I said, wiping my wet fur hiding my manly tears.

Kuririn looked concerned at me, and after I settled down he just smiled. What could be going through that guy's head?

Korin had been watching silently the whole time, that same damn mysterious expression on his cat-face drinking his Hetap. He looked over at Roshi. "I didn't know you learned to fly too, Roshi."

The old man looked at the cat. "Nope, I didn't."

The cat's expression turned angry. "Then why are you even here?! You're not thinking I'm going to carry YOU back are you?!"

Roshi laughed. "Good point! Well, I'm afraid I'll need a lift, then, Master Korin!"

"That doesn't answer why you're here! What good do you do here?"

The old man shushed him and started scooting towards him with his floral chair. He whispered directly into the cat's pointy ear. "I came to guage whether this fella could be trusted, and after that display, I see Goku's right. He's a much purer soul than Piccolo was."

With my sharp hearing, I picked up every word. Accidentally breaking down in front of an audience wasn't my proudest moment, but it worked in my favor I guess. My path was set: I was gonna get Vegeta to admit his wrong, and I might as well help the Earthlings. These guys weren't so bad.

Kuririn turned to face me while the other two went back to arguing about the flying problem. "You gonna need much longer, do you think?"

"Eh, should be any time now," I said casually.

He tilted his head, a scrutinizing expression on his face "I've been meaning to ask, how exactly can you talk?"

The hell kind of a question was that? "Well, first I move my mouth, it still functions like yours does, bu-"

He waved his hand rapidly to cut me off. "No no no, I mean, when Gohan and Goku transform, they lose all sense. I thought their saiyan instinct just takes over, but here you are talking to me, crying, and Vegeta could even fly. What's up with that?"

Ah, that's what he meant. "Kakarot and his kid most likely never completed their tail training. When you grab a saiyan tail, it saps all their energy and makes them weak. Raditz was the same way; he never completed his training so he has that weakness. He's all bonkers when he transforms." I inhaled. "I told him to train his tail, but he was always too lazy, and I'm betting it got him killed. The namekian tried grabbing my tail, but I can control this form, and I had trained my tail, so it was useless."

Kuririn didn't seem convinced. "But wait, Goku learned how to fight that weakness too, and he still went ape."

Wait. What? "Did he transform after he learned how to do that? Because if he did and still lost control, that's beyond me."

Kuririn thought hard, then finally shook his head. "No, I guess not. So you mean he would be like how you are now?"

I grinned. "Yep, he would have had tenfold power and complete control over his oozaru form."

He looked up. "Wow… that would have been good to know, granted it wouldn't have made much of a difference. Our moon's gone 'cause of that transformation. How did those two transform exactly without the moon anyway?"

"The power ball, or that star you saw. It lasts about 90 minutes, and once it's gone we have a few minutes in this form before we revert. Only the elite know the power ball technique-it was developed by the great King Vegeta, and so his son and I know it."

"King Vegeta? You mean that guy Vegeta's dad?"

I nodded. "He was a great king. Strong, fair, loved by all. I could tell you stories, if you'd want."

But he didn't seem interested. "Nah, I think I'm alright. What are you gonna do now though, since Vegeta left without you?"

I groaned. I wanted to avoid this question. "I'm going to help your team. Your Kakarot saved my skin and you're getting me medical treatment." I clenched my teeth. Thanking the enemy wasn't easy, but a lot of things had changed real quick. "I owe you Earthlings at least that much if you're going out of your way to help me despite our differences. Once my debt is repaid, I'm going to find Vegeta to settle and fix things."

Even after such a humiliating admission from me, Kuririn didn't seem very impressed. "Suit yourself. Remember you're only alive cause that blast didn't connect." He went to grab another drink.

No objection? No threats? These humans are too carefree for their own good. He did have a small point though. Vegeta would have obliterated me with that blast, and that's not all he's capable of. He might not be happy to see me again, and if it came down to a show of force between us, I didn't have a chance. I needed to think of a game plan.

But before I could devote any more thought towards it, my regression began.

I never really liked the regression process. It felt suffocating, and many saiyans who can't control their forms end up passing out from the process because they can't hold their breath. I was being squeezed by all sides, compressed back into my original size. It's not a very pleasant process, going from very large to very small. After a few moments, I had regressed back to normal, still battered and beaten, my legs still very much unfeeling.

Now I was the one looking up at Kuririn, who grinned down at me. "You weren't lying after all. Alright, we can head out now. The two masters had already gotten up, they placed their empty cans inside the container. Not ones to litter huh? That's nice, I guess.

"H-hey, before we go..."

He was moving the furniture to the positions they were in before they materialized in front of them. "What is it?"

I smiled. "Could I get another Hetap?"

He laughed. "Oh, sure thing. Hold on Master Roshi, Master Korin." He opened the fridge up again and from it took out another can. I reached out my hand for it, to which he obliged. My upper back muscles were a bit sore, but I managed to position myself to be able to drink. I opened the can after a moment after playing with the little metal mechanism until the can went *kzzt*, and then put my mouth on the opening. The liquid inside met my tongue, and went down my throat. It was just as refreshing and amazing as before, only now I had much more of it. I was enjoying myself a little too much it seemed, since I was able to hear a snicker from the cat. I didn't care though, this drink was too good, and that cat was a jerk.

After I downed my drink, I gave the can back to Kuririn, so he could stick it with the others. When on Earth, do as the Earthlings do. As long as you're not trying to conquer it.

Oh boy, now comes the part where someone a third my size tries to carry me. I braced myself as Kuririn bent down and hoised me over his shoulder. Surprisingly, it didn't really hurt this time. Either he was this time being more careful with me, or I couldn't feel anything down there anymore, or both. Ugh, I want this fixed so badly. I managed to tilt my head enough to get a look at what the other two were doing. Wow. It looked like the cat was flying and Master Roshi was hanging on by his legs. Master Korin didn't seem too thrilled about the arrangement, but at last we were on our way.

* * *

Author's Notes: Hey guys. So yeah, I literally can't believe the amount of responses you guys have given this story. I'm absolutely floored, this is the first fanfiction I've ever written and I'm glad that I'm not complete crap at it. I'm glad there's even an interest, Nappa's definitely a character that needs some good loving. I thank you all very much for your support, sorry I'm not individually responding to each of you, but I'm not gonna. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't answer questions in these notes, so please, ask away.

Oh, and as for Team Four Star Dragonball Abridged. Yes, I'm well aware they exist and Nappa is a meme. No, I'm not going to make TFS references, because why would you go to a fanfiction about Nappa and expect TFS? If you're gonna review and TFS references or requests are gonna make up the bulk of your comment, please don't bother. I'm not saying I hate their Nappa, I'm not saying I hate TFS fans. I will not be stealing their jokes or ideas. Thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't embarrassing to be flying this slowly, I told myself. What was embarrassing was the floating cat doing laps around us with an old man hanging on its legs, the old man laughing jeerily. I could tell that Kuririn was thinking the same thing. I saw a vein or two budge in his bald head. We were roughly half an hour into the trek to the hospital, yet it was hard to tell if we'd even made any progress. For as far as the eye could see there was nothing but dusty cliffs and rocky outcrops. There wasn't a hint of civilization for miles around.

Kuririn finally snapped. "Will you two cut it out already? I'm exhausted and this guy weighs a ton! If you have that much energy go on ahead without us!"

Korin stopped circling around us and started flying at our pace. "Well, smart guy, if you can get to the hospital without my help, then I'll be off. I don't suppose you know where the hospital is?" he challenged.

Kuririn looked down, dejected. "No, I guess not. I'm sorry, Master Korin. Still, how much longer do we have to fly if we keep this up?"

Without a word, the cat zoomed up high into the sky, making the old man yell out in surprise. From my position draped over Kuririn's shoulder, I couldn't see whatever they were doing up there, but soon the cat zipped back down to us. Roshi was making pained groaning noises and was hanging on desperately.

"About eleven hours," Korin said simply. "Looks like Bulma and the others just arrived."

This news made my stomach sink, and I heard Kuririn moan sadly. We were going to be flying like this for eleven hours?! Couldn't help but feel bad for the little guy, he was carrying me all the way there. I mean, I can't feel my legs, but he's got it bad too.

Korin spoke again. "We could probably cut it down to around two if I were helping you carry that guy. Too bad I can only manage one passenger at a time."

At this, all eyes turned to Roshi, who was just recovering from his sudden case of severe turbulence. He looked at all three of us one by one, switching to each of us in a goofy manner. This was the great Martials Arts master? First impressions can be deceiving. All I saw now was an old goofball. He gave a big toothy grin and laughed. I'd have socked him if I could reach. Allies or not, there's a limit to my patience.

But then he took on a more serious expression. "Right. Sorry for holding you all up; I'll head to the hospital myself. 11 hours at this pace, Korin? And we're heading in the right direction?" The cat responded with a nod.

Suddenly, the old man gave a powerful shout and his muscles bulged impossibly huge. His shirt was gone, split at the seams and blown lost to the wind in this impressive transformation. "Ka… me…" Roshi drew the heels of his hands together, gathering energy. "Ha… me…" His arms thrust forward, the cat releasing him into a freefall. "HA!" An explosion of blue energy flew past us, with a skinny old man on the other side, blasting off into the distance.

Before I could do more than wonder what the heck I'd just witnessed, I felt something support my other arm. It was Korin, the cat had hoisted me by the other shoulder. I had a cat hoisting one shoulder, and a midget hoisting the other. This was far more comfortable, now it was like I was being properly supported.

That, along with the low gravity on this planet, felt kind of nice. We were well on our way to getting some medical help and we were flying noticeably faster. I could take this time to catch some rest if I wanted. Well hell, why don't I? My eyes slipped shut, and I allowed my consciousness to fade away.

A furred whip cracked my back suddenly and I was wide awake again. We were hovering over the grasslands now. What the hell hit me? I looked at the two small beings supporting me in the sky. They were both looking at me and but the cat was laughing. I composed myself quickly. It was a surprise but it didn't hurt. That much.

"I can't believe I got to do that twice in one day! Hahaha!" Korin turned away from me, looking satisfied. "If I can't sleep, neither can you."

I stared at him mystified. Under any other situation, this cat would be dead. Hell, he would have died several times now under any other situation. Cheeky animal, how dare he disturb my sleep for such a selfish reason? Granted, I'd be the same way… damn it. Damn this cat. He's so infuriating. He knows exactly what buttons to push.

Kuririn spoke. "How you feelin', Nappa?"

My eyes snapped to him, and then softened. Kuririn looked tired, he was barely able to maintain a pleasant face. One of his eyes had swollen shut since I last looked at him. Was he gonna be able to last like this? Just how badly did this little guy get messed up? Suddenly, guilt gripped me. I was sore, yeah, but it's not like I was beat up all that bad. I just got hit really really hard and lost the use of my legs. Right now I didn't even have to do anything. I was given a free pass. Kuririn here looks like he all his energy's gotten sapped then got thrown under a steamroller and here he is, smiling and carrying to me to a hospital.

A hospital that was originally eleven hours away.

I shook my head. "I'm fine, thank you Kuririn." I mustered at last. He gave me a weak grin, and turned to face the direction we were going. My eyes were locked on the back of his head. I wanted to say more, but I couldn't think of anything. Articulation wasn't my strong suit. Damn it all.

Throughout the long flight, I kept myself awake by appreciating the planet's ecosystem. Wastelands weren't exactly mentally stimulating, but the lush green fields and the occasional wild animal were enjoyable to watch. This planet did have some interesting creatures roaming around, from small little critters to giant dinosaurs Dinosaur fighting strength varied wildly from planet to planet, and I wondered how tough Earth's versions were. Considering that Kakarot was sent here as a child, these giant lizards were probably all roar and no bite. They all tasted pretty good though.

After about an hour, the three of us notice a familiar flying aircraft. I heard the bald one let out a huge sigh of relief. The aircraft began to descend, and the three of us came down to earth as well.

The worn-out Kuririn collapsed to the ground on his back with a huge smile on his face. "Oh Bulma, I've never been happier to see you," he wheezed as the aircraft began its clumsy landing sequence. The cat still supported me, both of us watching the aircraft expectantly.

The hatch of the airship opened up invitingly. Korin and I made our way into the ship, where I was quickly deposited into a futon that had been spread out flat in the middle. I was being treated rather gently, thankfully. No surge of pain shot out when I was laid down gingerly. The cat then chose a seat in one corners of the ship and sat down.

I watched Kuririn limp into the ship, a cheerful look on his face. "Hey Bulma! We're all here, we can go now." He tumbled onto one of the seats as well.

The blue haired woman turned to him confused. "All here? But where's where's Roshi? I thought he was with you."

Kuririn grinned weakly. "He took off without us. Blasted himself over to West City."

She shrugged and started the ship up again. We ascended, and made our way to what I assumed was West City. Once we began cruising, I relaxed. This was a perfect time for rest. In vain, I tried to wiggle my legs again. It was still no good. From down on the floor I could only see the back of Kuririn's head, but he was clearly asleep. He was snoring. I couldn't help but chuckle.

This was a particularly interesting ship, it was spacious and comfortable. Most cruiser ships don't have futons just taking up space like this. I have to admit, it's really useful.

The blue hair woman got up suddenly. "Korin, take the wheel." She rushed to Kuririn and fiddled with his clothes. Kuririn slept through her intrusion. She took out the remote control for the Attack Ball. She wasn't hiding her excitement at all.

She spoke in a glee, while the cat ran to the controls in surprise and agitation. "So you're back to normal, I notice. You're still a pretty big guy. So you can move around now?" What was this human woman doing? God damn let me go to sleep.

"Eh, yes. I can move my upper body, and I'm still crippled. This is how I look like, yes." I looked up at her expectantly. "What are you d-"

She put the remote control to my face. "You said earlier that you could tell me how this works, if I wanted. Well I want it." The remote was dropped to my chest. She moved herself to sit next to me, but then hesitated. "Hey… you're not going to do anything stupid like attack me, are you?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. Was she serious? "You were so confident infront of me as an Oozaru… but now you're frightened of me as I am now?"

She stammered in response. "W-Well, I'm used to them is all…" Gulping, she sat next to me.

Oh, so that's what it was. Huh. Well, while I did say that earlier to get the remote out of her hands, it wouldn't hurt to show her. I picked the remote up delicately. "Well alright, let's see here…" I pointed to one of the buttons on the top left. "This button toggles the control of the ship between mine and Vegeta's. The range on this thing is huge, but if Vegeta took off already it's gonna be out of range." She nodded fiercely, waiting for me to continue. Okay then. "This one over here calls the ship to return to the remote's position. Not a button you want to use when you're indoors, since it'll come through from the sky through any ceiling." She nodded again.

I showed her the basic controls of the device and what the little buttons did. I explained to her that most of the controls were actually inside the ship, but the remote served well in retrieving and sending ourselves into space. I told her about the ship's suspended animation function when I mentioned that it took a year of pure flying to get here, and she listened to my every word. She seemed a bit crestfallen when I mentioned that the attack balls only seated one person but she eagerly listened on. She was a good listener, I must say. After a little while, I got to the part about the self-destruct function.

With enough wrong button presses, the control will send a signal the attack ball to explode. The function was needed for hi-jackers and other instances where you would rather your attack pod to explode instead of an unpleasant alternative. There was also a function to send coordinates to the nearest relay of the empire to send a rescue attack ball, but since Earth was so far away from any relay or control center, that particular function was useless.

Once I was finished with the explanation, she took the controller from me silently. She seemed lost in thought, staring off into space. I breathed, it sure was a mouthful. Every time I covered something about that ball, I remembered something else that was worth mentioning. I never had to explain the functions of an Attack Ball, but we were all taught once we were of that age to have our own. I was just a boy back then, being introduced to my ball and taught the controls, and to never explode the damn thing while I was inside of it.

She furrowed her brow and looked over at me. "Thanks for the explanation. It helped out a lot." She looked suddenly uncomfortable.

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it, but don't explode the damn thing." I forced a grin. She was a smart one, I could tell. I still don't like how these earthlings have my stuff, but after showing her all the buttons and entry methods on the controller, I felt safe with the controller being in her hands.

Bulma smiled down at me and got back up, the uncomfortable feel disappearing. She went to go sit next to Kuririn, who was still snoring. The cat made angry protests to get her back on the ship controls, but was promptly shut down.

At last, there was quiet. I wouldn't know how long it would last, but for now, there was no activity. Besides the time alone in the wastelands as an oozaru and waiting for Kakarot, it's been information overload. I met so many people in such a short time I couldn't really organize them well. Usually whenever I met anyone, they'd be dead later remembering their names and faces wasn't even an issue. Now I suddenly have blue hair, chestnut head, Kakarot's kid, black haired woman, old man Roshi, a fat white flying cat… Not to mention the other lot. I agreed to help them bring them back, and I could vaguely remember the three eyed man and the namekian. Ugh, this was too much. Everything's always been static. I knew the big names of the Frieza empire, my comrades, and that's it. Now, I've got more than ten people to remember.

This won't last, though. I said I'd help them, then I'd settle the score with Vegeta. Then what? I don't have a home here, I don't have a home there. I could just be a nomad fighter. That'd be nice, going rogue. I laughed to myself. There's no sense in thinking about it, the future is so unclear that I'm being helped by my former enemies right now and Vegeta just tried to kill me. Plans for the future can wait for later.

I relaxed. It would be best to take advantage of this time now to rest, I had wanted to sleep earlier. The gentle buzzing of the ship lulled me to sleep. The ship suddenly started descending sharply and crashed hard onto the surface. I was rolled over to the wall. Never a dull moment on this planet. The shorty and the blue haired girl were picking themselves up from the floor of the ship. Clearly they didn't expect the crash landing.

The cat spoke up in an irritated tone. "We're here."

The one called Bulma rounded on him. "Hey, whats the big idea?! What kind of diety crashes a ship in the middle of the road?!"

He turned his head over to her. "One that doesn't know how to land."

I bit my tongue in aggravation. Why would she put someone who doesn't know how to fly a ship in charge of flying the ship? Damn these earthlings were weird. The blue haired woman was rushing out of the ship, telling us to sit tight. The cat followed behind her, leaving me alone with Kuririn.

He was straining to get back into a sitting position. I grinned at him. "You alright?"

Kuririn looked over at me confused for a moment. He grinned good-naturedly. "Haha. Yeah, I'm fine. Wasn't expecting to get launched while I was asleep is all."

I laughed with him. He was a funny little guy. To think I was about to kill him before Kakarot showed up.

Bulma soon returned with some muscular human males with two stretchers. Wondering what the hell they were for, they answered my question by putting me on a plank and strapping me in. Ah, I get it. Kuririn limped past us, insisting he didn't need any assistance. My stretcher barely held me, but I was carried out of the ship and towards the hospital.

While outside, I took a look around the city. It looked just like the one I had obliterated when we first arrived. I groaned, making the attendants move faster. They probably thought I was in pain or something, and soon I was inside what I assumed was the Wukong Hospital.

It wasn't that busy, as many infirmaries I was used to were. I was immediately carted through some hallways. I saw humans being treated by nurses, bipedal dogs in white coats going from room to room with papers. We zipped deeper into the maze of the hospital, and ascended using some kind of vertical moving room. Through more hallways that looked pristine white, we finally halted.

We were in front of a large looking desk with a woman tapping away. The large men stood at attention and I saw the blue haired woman and Kuririn catch up to us, both looking a little winded. The woman inspected me a moment, the turned to the small man, then turned to Bulma.

Upon seeing Bulma, the woman's face turned pleasant. "Miss Bulma, are these the two you were waiting on?"

"Yeah, here they are! The big one's name is Nappa, and this little guy here is Kuririn." She pat Kuririn's head.

The woman nodded and began typing away at the computer furiously. I could never figure out how people are able to type at those things so quick, the letters are sprayed out all over the place on those key pad things and even if they were in order it'd be difficult to memorize. After a few moments, the woman tore herself from the computer to focus on Bulma.

"Do you have these gentlemen's ID cards?" She asked sweetly.

The blue haired woman dug into her bag, and pulled out a little card and handed it over to the smiling woman. "This is Kuririn's ID, the big guy's ID was lost in the explosion." She said, nodding. "I'll be covering for him."

The smiling woman's expression turned to one of sympathy as turned my way. "I'm so sorry that happened, mister Nappa. We'll be taking care of you real soon okay?"

I nodded, taken aback a bit. Just a moment ago I was invisible to her but now she's expressing concern. What was this? The smiling woman's computer conjured two little strips of paper. She grabbed each and handed them to Bulma. "Be sure to attach these to their gowns once they've settled in. Your friends are in room J7. Thank you, Miss Bulma." She gave a polite little bow in dismissal and returned to her typing.

The burly men lead the way with me. They carried my stretcher into a room, I presumed 'J7'. There was Kakarot's kid and his mother. The kid was snoozing upon the hospital bed while his mother was stroking his hair while simultaneously glaring daggers at me. Korin had beat us to the room, making chit chat with an angry looking short fat man. He had the same husky voice I heard back when I was an oozaru back in the wastelands, so this was the one who cut off Vegeta's tail? Well I'll be. There was no sign of Kakarot. I was laid on top of a fairly standard looking bed. It was reclined upwards, so I wasn't completely flat, which is good, because I was getting tired of that.

Kuririn approached a bed near me, and with a groan, hopped on and got comfortable. "Hey guys, what'd I miss?" he asked in a pleasant voice. I noticed the blue haired woman didn't follow him in. Did she leave?

The fat man huffed. "Goku's bein' checked on first. Gohan's next, and then I'm after him." He began picking his nose. "Is that the saiyan Goku beat up?"

I instantly don't like this guy. Kuririn made a motion to speak, but I beat him to it. "Yeah, I'm the saiyan Kakarot beat. The name's Nappa. What's your name, fat man?"

That spurred him to get closer. "What'cha say?!" He was obviously angry.

"You heard me, tubs. You're the fattest human I've seen so far." I shot him a glare, using my arms as leverage to lean forward menacingly from my bed. He stepped backwards. This one was such a coward. How the hell did he manage to get Vegeta off guard?

I could see sweat running down his fat face, his eyes narrowed and a wheezing noise escaping him. "I-I'm not afraid of ya…"

Before anyone else could say a word, a white haired man walked into the room with a clipboard. He gave a small wave to us, while he instructed the burly men from before to set down something in the room. That something was Kakarot and his bed. The bed we was carried in on looked like it was intended for critical care patients. Looking at Kakarot, he certainly fit the bill. He was wrapped up in bandages up and down. The only piece of him that wasn't wrapped up was his face. I thought I had it bad, but look at him! Kakarot gave us all a happy grin. "Hey guys!"

I held back a laugh. He was a saiyan after all. Here he is getting the crap beat out of him, looks like everything is broken, and he's still energetic. His friends returned his hello. I nodded in his direction, and slumped back onto my bed.

The doctor stirred the sleeping kid, and held his hand to lead him out of the room, with his mother following him close by. If I didn't know better and if I hadn't seen him alone in the fighting, I'd assume she was surgically attached to him.

Kuririn was struggling not to laugh. "Goku, you look like a mummy. Is that bed your sarcophagus?"

Kakarot looked at him confused. "What's a sarcophagus?"

He waved his hand quickly, dismissing his question. "So, what did the doctor say?"

Dropping the confused look, he grinned. "Well, the doctor says I'll take about four months to recover, and I'll be weaker than before. Most of my bones are broken, but he said I have no nerve damage."

I smirked. "Lucky you, I think you gave me that." I noticed the cat was laughing to himself.

Kakarot faced me. I realized this was the first time we were talking while not being enemies. Hell, I wasn't ready for this. I still had so much to ask Kakarot. Did I just ruin it by being a smartass right off the bat? Crap, typical, my mouth always beats my brain to the punch.

Instead of whatever the hell I was expecting, he just grinned his goofy grin even harder and spoke. "Yeah, sorry about breaking your back."

I nearly choked. Hate to say it, but I kinda like this guy. I shook my head. "You did what you had to." I didn't know how to thank him for saving me, so I'd sit on it. No need to be mushy now that we're just meeting. There was something more pressing on his mind. "Hey Kakarot, how did you beat Vegeta?"

He looked at me curiously. I wasn't asking much, was I? I just wanted to know how it went down. He finally spoke. "Well, we fought. It was a lot of fun."

That's probably the best answer I'll ever get out of him. Maybe one day I'll see for myself how he outmaneuvered Vegeta. I sighed and relaxed, watching the kid and his mother come back. The boy was stripped of the clothes he was wearing and had on some kind of cheap medical gown. The doctor gestured the fat man to follow him next. I saw him glare at me as he walked past. I definitely didn't like that one. Kuririn tore me out of my murderous thoughts.

"Oh hey. Bulma gave me these. I think this one's yours." He slid from his bed and limped over to me. He handed me a little piece of paper that the woman gave Bulma earlier. I held it, confused as to what I should do with it.

"Thanks, I guess." He nodded and limped back to his bed. I turned and stole a glance at the boy. He was chirping happily to his dad and mom. I guess I can't really interrupt that.

The doctor and fat man walked back in before Kuririn could even reach his bed. Well that sure didn't take long. He also was wearing the same clothes as before, instead of the gown the kid was wearing. The man walked back over to Korin. He looked angry, but it wasn't directed towards me. The doctor gestured to Kuririn this time. I noticed he winced a little, but he walked towards the doctor and followed him out.

I relaxed, and then it hit me. I was next. There's nobody else that was injured was there? No, the only other fighters left had died. Granted I didn't even see the fat man in the fight, surely the others would have been taken care of now, right? If so, I'll finally get word of what I can do with these. I tried moving my legs again. Still useless. I let out a loud groan and went over the covers of the bed. Felt nice, all things considering.

After a few minutes, I heard two pairs of footsteps enter the room. I saw Kuririn back on his bed in good spirits, also wearing a gown. The two burly men were back, and they moved my bed to follow the doctor. I was being removed from the room. This was it.

My heart was pounding. We were walking down the hall behind the doctor. We finally were lead into a room and the doors closed, the burly men had left and I was alone with the doctor.

He spoke up first. "Alright Mr. Nappa, I'm Doctor Shin. Let's see what's ailing you shall we?"

I stood still, he took out a small handheld device and pointed it me. With a small 'beep' a small light on the device turned red and the doctor turned around to his computers. He made a few taps on his computers, many sounds coming from him. Many 'Oohs', 'Ahh', and 'Tut tut"s escaped him, when finally he got up from the computer.

He looked at me for a moment with a furrowed brow. "Excuse me, sir." He walked towards the door and beckoned some nurses. Moments passed, and some attractive human females entered the room and filed in, their attention to the both of us.

Doctor Shin glanced at me. "We're going to need to get you in a gown and inspect you. Please allow the nurses to dress you."

The nurses approached me and I suddenly became extremely self-conscious. They were all fairly attractive humanoid women. One had light blue hair, there was a blond nurse, and a pink haired one as well. They weren't physically strong, so this was a multiple person job. Since I was already practically naked there wasn't much to do. My bracers were removed first by the cheery blue haired nurse, then two nurses took my boots off. Once those were taken off, the three of them went for my briefs. I watched my briefs slide off.

The pink haired nurse covered her face. "Oh my…"

I grinned wickedly as the other two had similar reactions. "Ladies, this isn't even its final form." I laughed heartily, while being covered by a large gown similar to that of Kuririn and the kid's.

The nurses quickly departed from the room, all conversing amongst themselves rapidly. I snickered to myself. This planet had it's upsides. My attention turned to the doctor who was inspecting my lower regions.

"Alright sir, please, tell me if you can feel this." If I wasn't watching him do it, I wouldn't be able to tell where he was poking me.

"No, nothing."

He then tried some other parts of my lower regions, he touched several spots, private or not. I couldn't feel anything below my waistline. He even touched my tail, which I was amazed that I couldn't feel either. That's not good, not good at all.

After several more proddings and pokes, I spoke up. "Doctor, how long until I can walk again?"

He turned his attention away from me. "I need some more information, just hold on one more moment." He left my side and went back to his computer. Typing away, he spoke again. "This is going to seem strange, but were you recently frozen or under cryostastis?"

I blinked. "Yes, I was."

The doctor sighed heavily and returned to my side. "Alright, this won't be easy to hear. You broke your back in a rather nasty way. Your spinal cord has been completely severed. There's no repairing it." He stared me dead in the eyes. "You're never going to walk again."

My mouth fell. So that was it, then. I'm a cripple. The others were wrong. Kuririn was wrong.

The doctor's voice was fading in and out, I held my head to hear him. It was like he was in a different place now. I was in a different place? He was saying something about my insides being brittle and the explosion or whatever severed it in an irreparable way. There was no known fix so far in medical science, and he was explaining a regiment or therapy for me for my mental health and to cope with my new disability. He called it a disability. That's rich.

He felt far away. I was shaking, keeping my hands on my head to stop the shaking. This was the single worst thing that could have ever happened. I thought I would be fine. They promised. Kuririn promised.

The doctor's next words got through to me. "The tail you have there, I saw some nerve endings there but due to your condition that would also not function. If you'd like, I could have it removed surgically."

Remove my tail? No. What the hell is wrong with people on this planet? I didn't lose my control like I did before, but I did feel the fury that statement caused me.

I stared into his eyes. "No," I breathed. "Touch my tail and I'll kill you."

The doctor stepped backwards in surprise. He started waving his hand, panic stamped on his face. "Okay, okay. We'll keep the tail. Just know you always have the option. Let's get you back to your friends now, and let's get you a critical bed." He laughed, weakly.

The burly men returned and transported me to another bed, and began moving me to the other room. I wanted to cry. Those earthlings had promised me that it would be okay. Kakarot recovered from worse, they said. They lied to me, those filthy scoundrels lied to me! For what purpose would they have to lie to me, besides it being some kind of sick joke? These scumbags were playing with me from the beginning! Kakarot toying with me in our fight, the others telling me I'd be okay when I'm actually a cripple…

Shaking with rage, I breathed deeply. Maybe they'd just been overly optimistic? They were unusually kind foes. I didn't see them having this kind of sense of sadism. This would be more Vegeta's shtick, playing with his food before he kills it. I don't know how to feel, none of this felt right.

The bed creaked something fierce when being placed into the gang's room. They were all laughing jubilee. Probably sharing a joke or something. They welcomed me back, and I just grunted in response. Until I found out the truth, I couldn't trust these bastards' kindness so easily anymore.

Kuririn talked loudly in my direction. "Hey Nappa! They said me and Gohan should be able to up and check out in three days! How about you?"

A strangled noise escaped my throat. I looked down, not wanting to answer him, gripping my bedsheets tightly. I could tell all eyes were on me, waiting for my response.

I heard his voice again. "Nappa?" Damn it all. I heard the other voices in the room make confused noises, some of them also calling my name. Leave me alone. I'm a cripple, I can't walk. That's what that doctor told me. I don't want to say it to these idiots, especially if they just all laugh at me if it really was just a sick game to them. Feeling myself shake, I held my head and kept my attention to my sheets. Just ignore him, just ignore that bald little…

A warm hand touched my shoulder. My attention snapped to it. Kuririn was there with a concerned expression on his face. Real concern, there was no way you could fake that. There stood my enemy looking concerned at his captive, in the most sincere way possible.

My mental river dam broke, I felt tears start running through my cheeks.

In a worried tone, he spoke. "Nappa, are you okay?"

Emotions broke through, and I grabbed him by the gown roughly. He was really light, and I shook him like a ragdoll, much to the protests of everyone else in the room. Shock was definitely printed on his face.

My voice being choked with sobs, I screamed at him. "You little piece of scum, the doctor told me that I'm never going to walk again! That's what he said right after you told me I'd be okay! I'm not a fighter anymore; I'm a useless mass of meat! Stop looking at me like that with your stupid concerned expression, I hate it, I hate it!" I was gasping for air. Shaking him more and more, he didn't resist, keeping that same stupid expression of concern on his face. "You… I… damn it!"

I threw him to the ground roughly and covered my face with my hands.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it…" I fell back on the critical bed, cursing more and more. The room went silent.

A hard whack on my hands caught my attention. Looking over to see who the dead man was, it didn't surprise me that it was the cat, staring down at me in his unreadable, stupid, asshole expression.

A catty grin made me hesitate. "Alright, crybaby, that's enough. You're going to be okay, we can heal your legs no problem."

Against my better judgement, I felt a swell of hope from his words. Being toyed with by Kakarot was one thing, but a friggen cat? "I'll bite. How?" Even though I was glaring daggers at him, the cat simply retreated while laughing at me.

"Now don't go spreading this around, but we got this magical cure-all called the Senzu Beans. The next crop will be finished growing in a month's time. They'll cure Goku of all his crushed bones, and another will cure you of your poor severed spinal cord." The cat approached me again.

He could probably tell that my rage and tension vanished. A magical bean that cured all wounds? Sure, I'll believe it. "Fine, I'll trust your words this last time, _hic_."

The fat man burst into laughter. "Whata baby! Oh no! I can't walk anymore!" I glared at him, the partially bandaged fatass was waving his legs in the air on his back. He was on the floor laughing at me! Why that dirty…

Kuririn snapped at him. "Yajirobe, that's enough. Especially from you." The bald man puffed himself up and started shaking in with pretend fear. "Oh no, Mister Vegeta! I'm sorry! I really liked you! Maybe we can be friends? Please don't kill me!" I then realized he was doing an impression of the fat man, Yajirobe.

I started laughing pretty hard. His angry response was drowned out by everyone else laughing along with me. Suddenly, I felt cheered up, but exhausted. My eyelids were suddenly very heavy. "Know what guys? I think I'm gonna doze off." The group gave me an acknowledgement, and I fell asleep pretty easily, and pretty hard.

There were no dreams that night. It was all black. Peaceful, peaceful black.

When I woke, I saw a blurry long blue haired figure sitting on my bed. "-ith this big guy's ship and the other wreckage it was all possible." The hell was that?

The room was different now. The first thing I noticed was that the cat and fat man were gone. How long was I out? It was still daylight outside, but I felt I was out for a while. This planet only had one sun, so surely there was a night-time?

The blue haired woman continued. "I was hoping we'd be able to go much sooner, but reverse-engineering that ship is gonna take my dad and I at least a month, probably longer…"

A giant man with horns was mollycoddling Kakarot's boy with the boy's mother. Nothing strange there. Kakarot was listening intently to the blue haired woman, as was Kuririn. Alright. Out of the glass window next to me there appeared to be a black genie staring inside. Not the strangest thing I've seen all day but alright. Shifting in my bed, I groaned, drawing the woman's attention. When she turned around I recognized it as Bulma, just with a new, odd hair style.

"Well good morning, sleepy head. You've been out for a day now." she chirped, apparently in a good mood.

I grunted in response. My eyes locked on a large strange box sitting ontop of a table in the room with moving pictures. Some tiny human was standing in front of a crater in the ground talking to himself loudly. What in the hell was this? I leaned in closer to get a better look not believing my eyes, but there it was. "How did that tiny person get stuck inside that box?" I questioned.

Kakarot looked over at me and smiled, while the rest of the group started laughing. Oh great, I'm hilarious. He spoke out first. "You know, I wondered the same thing the first time I saw that, too."

Bulma tapped the box fondly. "I can't believe you don't know what this is. You do have communicators, right?"

I nodded. Of course we did- everyone in Frieza's army used Scouter technology.

She grinned. "Well it's like that. This is part three of a three part system. There's the television camcorder that records audio and visual information. Then there's the transmittion unit th-"

I interrupted. "What's 'visual information'?"

She grumbled, hands on her hips and a finger to my face. "Well, what happens is that the camera takes pictures at an incredibly fast rate, so it's like an electronic flipbook. So the transmitter unit that broadcasts this is the second part, sending the radio waves carrying both audio and visual information. Then we have this piece, our television set, the receiver. This box gets those radio signals and translates it to this box. Boxes work in different ways, this one is LCD, so there's millions of tiny pixels that are switched on or off electronically to make a picture. You know how speakers work, so I won't get into that, but do you understand now?"

I nodded. "I see, so it's a magic box."

Kakarot chuckled. "Yeah, exactly!"

Bulma looked beside herself. "No, it's NOT!"

She was about to continue, but the guy who'd been hanging outside the window finally decided to say something. "Hello.

Bulma screamed and fell over. The rest of the room looked surprised too.

Kuririn looked excited. "It's Mr. Popo!" he yelled out.

I looked at Bulma and cocked an eyebrow. "So this is weird on your planet? From what I've seen so far this is normal." I've given up being surprised by this accursed planet, anything is possible here.

The genie was smiling and spoke again. "I found a ship! Follow me!"

Upon closer inspection, the genie was on a magic flying carpet, just like the story books.

The now stunned Bulma looked at him with obvious fear in her eyes. She got up and slowly approached him. "Y-You have a ship?"

The genie gave a one tooth grin. "I think so! It's probably a spaceship but I'm not sure. I need someone to come with me."

I furrowed a brow. How can someone not know if something is a spaceship or not? These earthlings had all this crazy crap but are lacking in interstellar travel? That seems kind of backwards. The woman was rapidly looking at volunteers.

I sighed. "I'd go, but I can't move. Why don't you go? You're smart, right?"

Kuririn spoke up as well. "Yeah Bulma, you're the only one who'd know what a spaceship would even look like!" I couldn't help but stare at him. _What?!_

She stared at both of us, whimpering. At last she crawled out of the window on all fours onto the rug with the genie overlooking her. Heh. In a flash, they both disappeared from sight.

Chuckling, I turned over to Kuririn. "So where'd the fatass and cat go?"

He frowned in response. "What's with you? I told them you're pretty okay, why are you antagonizing Yajirobe?" He paused for a moment. "I know he's annoying, but don't prove me wrong now."

Staring right at him, I took a moment to consider the possibilities of calling that 'Yajirobe' a comrade. I quickly then dismissed the idea. "I still don't like him." I said flatly.

To my surprise, Kuririn grinned. "Me either. They left shortly after you passed out. Saying they're gonna get a head start on the beans."

I sighed and relaxed. Ah yes, the magical beans that are going to fix me. Good. A month like this wasn't ideal, but as long as that cat wasn't lying out of his ass then I'll deal. Glancing around the room I still couldn't see that old man Roshi. I didn't really care if he was here or not, after all, maybe he came and left as the cat did?

I noticed a chair next to my bed, one with wheels. Ah yes, I recognized this. This would be my mode of transportation now until I get better. Before I could decide whether or not to give the wheelchair a try, the genie and the blue haired woman returned. She and the genie hopped back inside the window looking triumphant. It was a ship, then.

She cheered, "We have a ship! It's in excellent condition too; big enough to fit all of us even! With it we can reach Namek in a month!"

Kuririn hopped out of his bed. "That's awesome! We're going to Namek!"

"Yeah! With Mr. Popo here, it'll take just five days and we'll get our friends back!"

The genie dropped his smile. "What? But I'm not going."

I watched the blue haired woman round over the genie, insisting that he goes. He apparently couldn't leave the place called 'The Lookout', but he'd teach her a language. She reluctantly gave in and then recruited Kuririn to join her instead.

The deal was set, and those two were going off to Namek, leaving Kakarot, the boy, and me here. They reasoned that it would be best for us to stay here incase Vegeta came back, as a defense force. I suppressed my laughter. If Vegeta came back while Kakarot, the boy, and I were in this state, he would kill us all without blinking and then blow up the planet. It's best to not voice that thought, no need to kill the mood.

Kakarot's kid interrupted my train of thought. "I want to go too."

I looked at him, as did everyone else. His mother was visibly alarmed "What're you saying Gohan? You're not serious…"

"I'm not kidding. I really want to go."

Kuririn backed up from the scene, apparently knowing what was coming. She seemed irate, pressing herself to her son imploringly. "Don't you joke around, Gohan! You've missed a year of studying and you won't miss another two months!"

Gohan stared at his sheets. "Sorry mom, but I'd do anything to resurrect Piccolo…"

Kakarot looked up from his bed, a wide smile on his face. "Really? Wow, I'm proud of you Gohan."

As was I, that there was comradery. I gave that boy a genuine smile. Vegeta could learn a thing or t-

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!" Any attempt at self-restraint was gone now. She was a very loud woman. "THERE'S NO TELLING WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN!"

Kuririn, Bulma, and the big horned man were cowering in a corner, but Kakarot and I grit our teeth. Was this woman for real?

"YOU'RE MONTHS BEHIND THE OTHER KIDS, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO NAMEK. ABOSLUTELY NOT! FORGET THAT DEVIL PICCOLO, YOU'RE ONLY A BABY!"

And to everyone's surprise, Gohan yelled, "SHUT UP!"

I looked in awe, as did everyone else, even the kid's father. His mother dropped to her knees, her arms shaking.

"All that doesn't matter… We have to bring back our friends who died fighting with us…" Gohan breathed, calming down. "I'm able to fight, so I have to help any way I can to make sure they do come back. I'm sorry mom, please understand."

I laughed internally. You did good, Kakarot, you did damn good.

The horned man consoled her. She looked absolutely dejected and defeated. I couldn't help myself. "You can't change a saiyan's mind once it's made up. You should be proud."

The woman looked at me weakly. Taking this opportunity, I continued. "Saiyan kids fought alongside the adults all the time. He's just like his dad." Kakarot shot me a grin, while the woman muttered something I couldn't catch.

Bulma patted Kakarot's wife comfortingly on the back. "There won't be any danger at all, don't worry Chi Chi." She turned to the two small fighters, a grin on her face. "We'll meet at Kame House in ten days, alright?"

They agreed in unison, I merely nodded. My attention went back to my wheelchair. It looked like a snug fit, but now wasn't the time to practice. The box with the small human had changed to another tiny human, this one female. The female was talking to herself holding some kind of rod to her mouth, on her bottom left there were some words "Serial Shirtless Molester runs Rampant on West City". The scene quickly changed to a sketch drawing of a skinny shirtless old man with sunglasses and a beard…

I pointed at the box. "You know, that looks like the old man."

The gang had become quiet while looking at the screen intently. I heard the blue haired woman breathe out, "There's no way…"

The female reporter returned in the panel. "Reports state while he does look like an 80 year old man and he is on-foot, he's evaded pursuit by all officers, canine units, and mobile units. His last known whereabouts were in sector C of West City, and the area is currently in a state of emergency. If you need to leave home, do so with caution. Police are calling to arms to report any suspicious activity, as the man is still at large."

Kuririn let out a low groan, and I noticed Bulma had taken off from the room. I could only assume she was going to help.

I smirked, and leaned forward to look at the wheelchair once more. It's now or never, I figured, and grabbed the chair. Carrying myself upwards and keeping sight of my lower half, I slid myself into the chair and strapped myself in. The chair fit me fairly well, and I grasped the wheels and propelled myself forward.

Words of encouragement came from Kuririn and Kakarot. I moved forwards and backwards, and tried turning. It came easy to me. I could hear clapping now and even more words of encouragement. How embarrassing; I was being praised for something so mundane. I also couldn't help liking the praise, I wasn't used to it at all.

This was how I was going to move around for a while. I wasn't a cripple, this was only temporary. The easy movement and maneuverability of the chair filled me with determination. Everything was going to be alright.

* * *

Author's Notes: Enjoy.


	4. Chapter 4

The next few days flew by. My energy had returned to me, although my legs were still very much useless. It was heavily implied to me to not make use of my flight, super strength, or obvious energy abilities while I was staying in the hospital. I understood that as a way of saying "Don't harm anyone."

Kakarot and I were to stay in the hospital until further notice. Ordinarily once we were stable we could be moved to what was known as 'Bulma's place', but she decided against it as we would get in her way. Yajirobe and Korin were hard at work getting those senzu beans ready. It was the gang's decision to keep me close to Kakarot lest I change my mind about our alliance status. From their perspective that was wise; I could raze this planet alone if I wanted to, with or without my legs. I was to be given room and board in this hospital, with the doctor checking on my mental and physical state. Kakarot agreed to be my watcher, not that either of us had a lot of room to object.

Kuririn and Gohan had recovered fully within three days, as the doctor had expected, and they checked out shortly after. They had postponed the trip to Namek since Bulma not only had to learn the alien language, but also prepare the ship the genie had found. Her father, who I'm told is a brilliant scientist, was assisting her.

After they were done with the ship, the scientist would be preparing a separate ship for Kakarot and me. In the event we were needed, we would be able to join them as backup. It didn't seem likely, those two were strong. Kakarot had reached her father on a phone and requested to please include a gravity chamber in the ship to train. That concept astounded me; training on the way to a mission. Why didn't we think of that?

Roshi was found by the authorities and was about to be taken into custody when Bulma intervened. Kuririn was keeping Kakarot and I updated on what was going on every day and his tone was a strange mix of amusement and shame.

"She called him her great uncle and said that he was off his meds and went missing from her home. The police could hardly believe it, but actually let him go. I'm telling you guys, we might be strong, but it's crazy how much influence that girl has."

He wasn't wrong. There wasn't anything this female human couldn't accomplish. She had gotten me citizenship papers as well as some kind of citizen ID. She didn't spare me how much of a bother all this was for her while she needed to work on the ship and her language lessons, but I thanked her nonetheless. She had beamed happily at me, and then left us to our devices. I was a citizen of this planet now.

Kakarot and I were pretty much confined to our room at all times. I had some roam with the wheelchair, while he stayed in his bed all strapped in. He would watch me wander our hospital room aimlessly in envy. I couldn't blame the boy; being stuck in a bed was torture. We were fed a pitiful amount of food, three meals a day, all of them tiny portions. It wasn't terrible tasting, but it wasn't nearly enough to fill either of us up. We weren't allowed to go down to the cafeteria by strict order of Doctor Shin, who insisted that we stuck to his diet regiment for a speedier recovery.

Television wasn't appealing to either of us. Everything was either useless drama or reporting irrelevant stories. The only bit of amusement I got out of it was when the king of the world addressed the population about the East City tragedy. The king was a friggen talking dog. Other than that, I quickly became bored of it after a day. Kakarot wasn't much for conversation either but to be fair I didn't initiate much myself.

Soon, after the eighth day stuck in this hellhole, Kakarot was removed from his bandage cocoon and was given individual casts for his limbs. He was also granted access to a wheelchair. He was practically beaming upon being wheeled in on the chair to our room.

He grinned at me as the doctor left the room. "Hey, look. I got a chair just like you!"

I smiled politely and nodded. "You sure do."

I watched as the younger saiyan rode around the room, enjoying his mobility. The novelty of it would wear off like mine had, but it was enjoyable to see another saiyan have fun after over a week of boredom. Suddenly, Kakarot flipped himself to do one handed vertical push-ups with his good right arm.

I gaped at him. "What… What're you doing?"

He stopped mid pushup, and gave me a look of confusion. "Since I can move now, I'm gonna start training again. I need to get stronger so I can beat Vegeta."

Unbelievable, this guy was a maniac. He continued doing those vertical push-ups while I was left there stunned. I couldn't help but feel angry that I didn't think of doing this before. What have I been doing these last days but just laze around becoming complacent?

I slid myself off of my chair, and assumed the position to do a vertical push-up as well. Without being able to control my lower half, it proved to be difficult. Kakarot noticed me. "Yeah, that's the stuff. Although, you might not wanna do that, what with your legs and all."

Grunting, I lowered myself onto the floor, and began doing crunches. It worked, oddly enough. I was able to feel the burn, and I noticed Kakarot joining me to do some as well. He was going faster than me, crunching his abs. I grinned, and sped up as well, counting off. "One, two! One, two!"

Kakarot had sped up to reach my pace and joined me in sounding off. "One, two! One, two!" I snickered while sounding off. This guy was fun and competitive. I kept up with him even as he picked up the pace.

We were both doing crunches rapidly when suddenly an alarmed old voice rang out. "What on Earth are you two doing?!"

We both turned to our doctor. Shin was standing there wide eyed and mouth opened. Standing behind him was Kuririn looking over at us. He was grinning with two bags of food.

The doctor herded Kakarot back onto his chair, while I climbed back onto my own without assistance. "You two should be resting. You must allow your wounds to heal. This is no time to be exercising. Mister Kuririn is here to visit, and don't let me catch you two doing anything like that again without my say-so!"

Shin departed. I growled at him in frustration while Kakarot and Kuririn were snickering to themselves. Doctors were always like that, pestering us about moving too quickly after we recovered. Even in Frieza's ship there were the odd avian doctors always fussing about us when we leapt out of the rejuvenation tanks to battle.

I mused to myself about what it would be like if Vegeta and I were being hospitalized in this manner. The prince would have surely been barking at the doctor, probably incinerating some of the staff. Considering this, it was easier to appreciate the company that I currently had.

Kuririn made it a habit of bringing us food from the city while we were in the hospital after a few days of us suffering with the pitiful amounts they gave us. He gave the excuse to our doctor that the food was for him, and he wouldn't give it to us. I appreciated that, he had no obligation but he did it anyway. This was good company. He placed a bag on my bed. This was my 'usual'. It was a hamburger with fries, and a can of Hetap.

The short guy approached Kakarot with his bag. "You know, now that you're out of that body cast, I don't have to feed you anymore, and you can go down to the hospital cafeteria."

Kakarot used his free hand to inhale his food. I quickly did the same. Kuririn looked at us stunned. "Is this a saiyan thing or what? You're the only one I've ever seen compete with Goku."

"Yes," I answered, scarfing down the second half of my burger. After polishing off my food I turned up to the astonished Kuririn. "Thanks a bunch."

He chuckled weakly. "Yeah, sure. No problem."

Kakarot let out a merry burp. "That was great! Thanks a ton, Kuririn!"

Soon his visits would be over. He was set to leave in two days for Namek. Kakarot and I would be stuck again with our rationed hospital food. It may be time to explore the cafeteria the kid and Kuririn went to.

I waved Kuririn over. "Hey, you said there's a cafeteria somewhere here, right? Can you take us to it?"

He gave me an aggrieved face. "You just ate. I bought both of you food! Not to mention Doctor Shin wouldn't let you two down to the caf yet."

Kakarot had already wheeled himself close to the exit. "Well, Shin's on the other end of the floor, and what he doesn't know won't hurt him," he said in a jocular tone.

Kakarot had been right. We easily moved past some nurses onto the elevator without running into our caretaker. I was impressed by his senses and amused by his obvious eagerness for more food. A simple snack like that won't fill us saiyans that easily. Our chestnut-headed friend guided us to the basement floor, where the cafeteria was located behind two lefts and a right.

It was a buffet! A feast fit for warriors! I could tell that our previous food had been a plate from the health section of the buffet, but there were plenty of other morsels to choose from. Faint familiar smells got my attention, but they were being overwhelmed by several other more powerful scents. Kakarot was salivating and I couldn't agree more, we both rushed to the bastion of food.

While grabbing plates, a little humanoid robot scanned our gowns. We both noticed, but quickly disregarded it, and filled multiple plates with food. With our bounty on our laps, we rushed to a table and set our plates down. Without another word, we both chowed down.

Kuririn reluctantly joined us while we were eating. The other patrons were obviously taken aback by our disturbance, but Kakarot and I didn't care. We scarfed down our food. It was all delicious. I took care to memorize my favorites were among these so I could get more.

I took a bite of a particularly juicy meat item. The flavor was amazing. Oh he's gotta try this. "Hey Kakarot, get a taste of this!"

He turned my way and bit at what I offered him like a dog. "Oh wow! This is really good!" He exclaimed.

We both rolled back up for seconds, Kuririn shaking his head as we did. "How are you two not fat?!"

Scanned again by the robot and filling our plates with food, we came back and continued to gorge ourselves. After demolishing my plate, I noticed Kakarot had stopped and had an annoyed expression on his face. I gulped down what was in my mouth. "What's wrong?"

Kakarot finished eating his pile of food quickly. With his mouth still filled with food, he grumbled. "Shin." He pointed his eyes to the direction we came in.

Kuririn took this opportunity to say his goodbyes, and took off in the opposite direction.

I looked over my shoulder. There was no sign of him. I shrugged it off, and continued eating, but not a moment later did I see that old clipboard wielding doctor approach us.

After a talking to, we were escorted back to our room. I had eaten my fill for the first time in a long time, so I wasn't particularly bothered by a rude passive aggressive doctor. As did Kakarot, who looked content as well. Once we were gently led back to our room, I turned to face Kakarot.

"Say, Kakarot. How did you know the doc was coming anyway?"

Kakarot frowned at me. "You keep calling me that. My name is Goku."

This whelp was definitely intent on everyone abandoning his birth name. If we were to be allies, I would also have to follow suit. It was definitely going to be something to get used to. I've been calling him that since I heard of him. "Fine, Goku. How did you know he was there?"

Kakarot had a thoughtful expression on his face, then faced me. "Well, I just sensed that he was there. A lot of us learned how to sense energy, so all I did was focus on his and his position."

I raised an eyebrow. "How exactly do you sense energy? Is that how the others knew you were coming back then?"

He nodded and chuckled. "Yeah. I mean, it's like I feel him. Well, maybe you can do it too."

Suddenly, his face drained of all humor. After a moment, the medical equipment rattled, things were knocked down their shelves. I could feel him. It was hard to describe, but it was like I was able to gauge his fighting strength from what he was doing. It wasn't threatening, but it was quite large. Suddenly it became clear to me that I've been seeing it all along while staying on this planet. Each of the staff had a faint, but a distinct sense.

As quickly as it appeared, it vanished. It was being suppressed. This is how the scouter was fooled, huh? The stern looking young man turned into the cheerful boy from just a moment ago. I chuckled weakly. "Yeah, I felt that. I never have before." What else on this god damned planet did I not know about?! Would I keep this ability outside in other planets too? This ability made scouters nothing but glorified communicators now.

Over the next two days I had practiced this sensing ability. I would lock onto Kuririn and he would walk amongst the hospital staff awkwardly. I could see him shuffle through people. After a single day, I was able to keep track of him loitering in different floors of the hospital. Eventually, with Kakarot's guidance, I could even lock onto Shin's weak energy and keep track of him. Using my new found ability, we would be able to maneuver around him as we pleased.

On the tenth day stuck here, Kuririn came to visit us one last time in the early morning. He was departing later this afternoon and had come to give us a goodbye.

Kuririn and Kakarot shook hands and gave each other staunch expressions. Kakarot spoke first. "Take care of yourself, Kuririn."

Kuririn broke the handshake and gave a big grin. "I'll be fine, I'll see you later buddy."

He approached my bed. Before he could say anything, I reached my arm out as a fist. I gave him a devilish grin, he caught on and bumped my fist with his own. I retracted my fist and exhaled. "Later."

He chuckled back. "See ya." With that, he turned around and left our humble hospital room.

Shortly after Kuririn had left, we were visited by Gohan and his mother. While he was staying here injured, he filled his dad and us in about his training with the namekian I killed. He was called Piccolo, and it seemed he trained the young fighter fiercely and beat the ever-loving crap out of him while doing so. Good for him.

The boy hadn't visited us once since he left. Apparently he had been studying to make up for lost time, as well as preparing for the voyage. When he appeared before us, he was wearing a little suit with a bowtie and shorts. Of course, his mother assumed her usual positon of helicoptering over him at all times. I wondered if she herself would go too. Surely not.

Gohan was giving his father a hug. I caught small sentiments of "I'll miss you", and "Take care of yourself" from the two as Chi-Chi nodded in approval.

After finishing their goodbyes, the boy turned to me and gave me a polite bow. I nodded my head in response, and the two quickly departed.

And with that, they both left. Later that day, Chi-Chi came back. With tears in her eyes, she told us about how she made him promise to write every day, and how they blasted off. They were gone then, and in a month's time, they would arrive on Namek. Sooner than that though, we would get healed. Even sooner than that, I noticed Doctor Shin was taking excessively long with another patient.

I grinned at Kakarot. "Hey, Goku."

He grinned back at me. "I know. Hey Chi-Chi, you hungry?"

Back down at the cafeteria in our usual spot, Chi-Chi clung close to Kakarot, watching him eat fondly. "I swear, I'll never get used to this." She clung close to her husband's casted arm. It was the first time I've noticed the two of them close, as she was always mollycoddling the boy.

Not that it was the place or time. We were both in the process of ruining this cafeteria. So focused on eating I lost track of Shin, who tapped me on the shoulder.

"Damn it!" Kakarot and I yelled out in unison.

He sighed. "It's like the both of you don't want to get better."

Getting dragged back to the room was becoming routine. Even brief training excursions were cut short by Shin's meddling. God damn it, Doctors.

As time flew by, Kakarot and I spoke to each other more and more. Our relationship evolving more than just being united against Shin's fun killing.

He looked at me intently one day. "Tell me a little about the saiyans."

I raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Well, I mean, what were they like? I get they were strong fighters but that's all I know."

I considered this. "We had a king, like you guys. Vegeta's dad, he was pretty good at what he did. We operated kinda like how you do here on Earth, everyone's got a job. Most of our jobs were just fighters being sent out, yeah. But we had other trades, like butchers and meat preparers. Most of our doctors were weird bird aliens."

He nodded at me. "I see, I see. So they weren't all that different from Earthlings."

Again, I considered. "No, I guess not. You know our children get sent off into space for weaker planets for conquest. That and our mating and courting were way different from what your wife's arm grab thing. Other than those two it's pretty much the same."

Goku tilted his head in confusion. "I don't understand the part about courting and mating. I never did like that arm grab thing everyone does."

I chuckled, we're going here now. "Well, saiyans act in packs, Goku. Of course being isolated so long must have done a number to your natural instincts. What we do is form bonds with each other among our packs. We mark each other, usually on the neck with our mouths via bite marks, and after that we're bonded. We don't just mark and bond anyone though, cubs…" I noticed Kakarot's confused expression. "Whelps." He tilted his head in response. "Children, Goku." Kakarot nodded and smiled. I continued. "Children that just go into puberty can begin the marking process with another saiyan, cub or not. The prerequisites is that they have to be emotionally close to each other, then they'd be able to bond. It's kind of a like a life time partner, our 'mates' are what keeps us going, and that's how courting and mating is done."

Kakarot watched me explain this with earnest attention. "Wow… is all that true?"

I laughed heartily. "Hahaha! Of course not. Who would ever believe something as stupid as that?" I clapped my hand hard on Kakarot's back.

He grumbled annoyed. "You shouldn't lie to friends, Nappa."

I stopped laughing, and frowned at him. I didn't want to upset the boy, just laugh at his expense. Bad move on my part.

Moving over to the television, I moved the TV onto my bed. "Hey Goku, how about we find out which one of us is stronger?" I put my elbow on the small table, ready for an arm wrestle.

His mood immediately lightened up. "Sure! But I think we both know I'm the stronger one!"

Cheeky little guy, but I let it slide. He rolled up on his chair and grasped my hand to his, we had ample room for a good match.

I grinned. "Alright, on my mark, one, two, THREE!"

In terms of raw power, we were both evenly matched. Neither of us lost ground. We strained and tried to beat each other, my massive arm against his lean muscular build locked into place. I groaned, trying to push his arm back. He kept his eyes on me, focused on my gaze not willing to get pushed, but to push back.

Shortly after we began, the flimsy table collapsed, the both of us falling over.

I whined, clearly agitated. "I definitely had you, Kakar… Er, Goku!"

He grinned at me, cocky and resolute. "No way, I was just about to push your arm back Nappa!

We both laughed. This wasn't over. We both wheeled over to Kakarot's bed. He challenged me there, and I accepted. This time, we went full power right off the bat. He pushed my hand back a little, but I recovered, pushing him back in turn. His defeat was in my grasp, I was pushing his arm further and further when suddenly, the bed caved in upon us.

On the ground, I smacked the floor. "Damn it! I was so close! I had you Goku!"

He chuckled sheepishly. "We'll never know. Then again, we have an arena right here." He propped his arm up again one more time challenging me. Of course, why didn't we think of this before? The table was flimsy, the bed was only made to support a small amount of weight, but the floor. Surely the floor would be enough for our competition.

"Fine!" I grasped his hand. "One! Two! THREE!"

I gave it my all, I pushed Kakarot's arm back now, but I could tell he wasn't holding back either. He forced my arm backwards with great ferocity, we were both yelling, trying to get an inch on each other. Our attention was locked on each other's faces, our determination unwavering. I didn't want to lose. I could tell he didn't want to lose either. There was a rumble.

The ground collapsed under us, taking us down the next floor. We landed roughly ontop of the rubble that used to be our floor. It took a moment for me to fully understand what we just did. I started laughing. Kakarot's laughter joined in, and it didn't take long for the hospital staff to surround us.

We never did find out who won that arm wrestle. We resolved to have a rematch on the ground, somewhere where we couldn't cause property damage. We didn't hurt anybody in that, much to Kakarot's relief, but that wasn't enough for everybody.

The medical staff weren't too happy with us after that event as we caused a greater part of that floor to cave in under us. I had heard some angry phone calls to what I assume was the Briefs residence and from what I understand we were 'covered'. Whatever that meant. So there weren't any ramifications for that little incident besides us being relocated to a somewhat empty wing on a lower floor.

Shin gave us a good talking to after that incident. Something about patient responsibility and to behave while in the hospital, acting our age and such. The nerve of the man, judging our life choices. He received compensation didn't he? I bit my tongue at his remarks, and instead relished the fact that he was now wandering between floors when checking up on us.

The empty wing was mostly devoid of people, so the entire area had quickly become our playground. We knew better than to flex our powers now, but that didn't mean we couldn't test our agility. Zipping around the wing in our wheelchairs proved to be a fun activity, especially when we tried to race each other in marked tracks. I had the advantage of having both hands to work with against Kakarot's one, but I was larger, so it evened out.

Time flew by, Kakarot and I grew closer and closer. It's hard to believe an easygoing guy like this was as powerful as a super elite as Vegeta. Our workout sessions kept us in shape even with our injuries, and now that Shin was more intermittent than before they could go on the entire day. Causing massive property damage definitely improved our living conditions. We both challenged each other. Well, it was more like I was trying to outdo the bastard. It occurred to me one day that if a low class saiyan like him could reach the levels of a super elite, then I as an elite would be able to reach those same heights. We would work out all day if it weren't for those accursed examinations.

I don't know what they did with Kakarot when they wheeled him away, but he returned sullen every time. As did I for my own examinations. Shin would cart me away to inspect my health, every day telling me that my condition is improving and that I'll be a functioning paraplegic. He'd also comment about how I shouldn't be exercising with Kakarot until he tells me that it's okay. Without Kakarot's fun, I wouldn't have lasted as long as I have! To hell with 'do not encourage him'!

My mental checkups were the worst. I'd have a different doctor, a female dog watching me while I regale her the story of my life and my accident. I've been told to keep my life as a saiyan elite a secret to the humans, lest I attract even more attention to myself. I'd dodge her questions when I couldn't make up anything convincing, but she'd just keep probing and probing me.

One day, I couldn't stand it anymore. Being carted back into my hospital room, Kakarot immediately noticed my fouler than usual demeanor. "Hey, you okay there?"

I gritted my teeth. "No, I'm really not Goku. I need some fresh air."

It finally dawned on me. Why don't we just get the hell out of here? At this point, it's only been three weeks so far since the others went on their adventure and the ETA on those beans was still at least two weeks.

With a grin, I turned to Kakarot. "Goku, once Shin goes home for the night, let's get out of here."

Kakarot laughed. "Sure! Where would we go?"

There were so many things I wanted to see on this planet. While we were flying to the hospital, I wanted to eat some dinosaurs. More than that though, this was West City. This was a city, so there must be some places of entertainment. There could also be food better than hospital food, maybe even a place to wet his whistle.

Considering this, I decided. "Let's explore the city tonight." Hopefully I'll be able to make this a regular thing.

Once nighttime hit and Shin went home for the day at 7pm, we used our radar-like senses to seek out an opening. After dodging several doctors and medical staff employees, we were able to wheel out of the entrance easily. There weren't even any guards, it was child's play!

Upon exiting the prison, we both took in a deep breath. Finally, fresh air. Suddenly, it hit me. How can we go into the city without any kind of currency? All I had to my name were the credits in Frieza's Empire and this gown. Kakarot was equipped only with his gown as well, so unless he had a fat stack of cash in there, we were going to have to change our plans.

I asked shakily. "Hey Kakarot, do you have any cash?"

He looked confused. "Cash? No, I don't have any money." He then realized the situation we were in. "Oh no! That's right! Almost everything here costs money. Man, what a drag…"

Kakarot pondered the situation and then looked at me sternly. "We're just gonna have to go to Bulma's place. Maybe Dr. Briefs will know what to do."

Nodding, I replied. "Lead the way."

We arrived in no time. We zipped along the streets and past taxis, passing gaping civilians. I was laughing all the while. The agility training we did in the hospital was being put to practical use. We reached the compound, it was massive. There was a huge domed building with several other smaller domed buildings surrounding it.

Kakarot made a dash around the large building where there was a short whitehaired man inside of a giant attack pod. I assumed this was Bulma's father, as he had a white coat like all the other doctors I've met on this planet. I suppose he also looked a little like her as well.

The doctor glanced over at our approach, to which he beamed. "Ah, Goku! What are you doing here?" He took a better look, and laughed a little. "You're still far too injured to be going out on a nighttime stroll!"

I marveled at the giant ship. It wasn't perfectly like an attack ball, it had four legs keeping it upright. But other than that it looked like a giant attack ball. So this would be our ship? I took a peek over the old man to get a gander of the inside of the ship. The insides were still all being constructed and it looks like he was working on this out here all alone.

Kakarot approached him. "Hey Dr. Briefs. Do you know how to get money?"

Dr. Briefs raised an eyebrow. "My boy, whatever do you need money for?"

He chuckled in response. "Well, you see, Nappa here wants to do stuff in the city, and I remembered that doing practically anything took money. I don't have any."

The good doctor peered over Goku and finally noticed me. "My word!" He rushed over to me dropping his tools. "Oh so you're Nappa! I see, you really are huge!"

I grinned. "Yep!"

He turned back to the incomplete ship. "The ship's progressing rather smoothly. It'd be a great boon if I could have your help sometime. Just minor questions here and there, that's all."

"Anything to get me out of that hellhole, doctor."

He gave me a mischievous grin back. "Great! Now wait right here you two, I'll be right back."

Scuttling off, the doctor ran into the main building. I took this time to appreciate the unfinished ship. So this was my old attack ball huh? Well I'll be. Dr. Briefs returned pretty quickly before I could inspect it further.

He handed Kakarot a fat stack of bills. "Here you go. Two million zenni."

Kakarot's bounced backwards in shock, money in hand. "Two m-million zenni?! I can't just take this!"

I rolled my way over his shoulder, peering at the stack of papers. "What's wrong? Too little?"

Kakarot looked at me with a stunned expression. "This is a ton! Your lunch combo Kuririn always got you was only 500 zenni!"

I thought about it. I thought about it some more. Then my jaw dropped. "That's over a thousand meals!"

He nodded furiously at me. "Yeah, I know! I'm sorry Dr. Briefs, I can't accept this for nothing. I was mostly looking for advice."

Honestly, I couldn't help but agree with the boy. This was an insane amount of money to just blow in the city. I couldn't take this welfare, I have my pride!

Dr. Briefs scratched his head. "Well Goku, you get money through jobs and profit. I just gave you what I usually spend on a night out, haha!" My jaw dropped again, he continued. "Well, if you do feel bad, how about you do a job for me?"

Kakarot's eyes lit up. "Really! Heck yeah, I'll do it!"

Dr. Briefs gave a toothy grin. "I've been wanting another stray animal to take care of. A baby dinosaur or egg perhaps. If you boys happen to find one, then bring it back alright?"

The young saiyan nodded and wheeled over to give back the money, but Dr. Briefs shook his head. "No no, consider that paying up front. You just enjoy yourselves."

I chuckled to myself. This Kakarot has made himself quite a number of good friends. Not only is this guy footing the hospital bill for us, fixing us a new ship, and covered our property damage, but he's willing to give Kakarot an exorbitant amount of spending cash. Not many saiyans have those kinds of connections.

After a warm farewell, we wheeled out of the compound. I made a mental note to visit the good doctor, as he had requested me. This was the first doctor that didn't make me seethe after talking to them. Kakarot rolled alongside me, I couldn't tell who was following whom.

I caved. "Kakarot, I think I'd like a stiff drink. Does this planet have any alcohol?"

He tilted his head. "Like an alcoholic drink or something?" I nodded enthusiastically, he laughed. "Well, we can probably find one in a bar." He wheeled in front of me, and zipped across the streets again.

This planet had bars? Maybe they even had taverns?! Well if they had one they surely had the other. I shook excitedly while keeping up with Kakarot. This planet wasn't half bad. Dinosaurs and civilization didn't mix. I swear I saw a woman walking a stegosaurus on a leash while we passed. What kind of weirdo keeps a dinosaur as a pet? Eventually, we reached a district we haven't explored before, and in glorious glowing lights, there was a sign that said "BAR".

There was no hesitation, I wheeled in and took in a deep breath. The familiar scent of booze filled my nostrils. There weren't many patrons there, but it certainly wasn't empty. Daddy was home. I shoved over the trademark stools and wheeled over to the bartender.

This was the first middle aged human I've seen. The petite gentleman had a huge bushy mustache with tiny squinty eyes and had a large droopy nose. The bartended raised an eyebrow at me, cleaning a stein with a rag.

The bartender put aside his items and looked me over. In my haste, I forgot to mentally prepare myself that I was still in a hospital gown and in a wheelchair. I groaned inwardly, and hoped the bartender wouldn't comment.

For once, my hopes were answered. "What'll ya have?" The bartender said loosely, getting ready for my drink.

Thankfully I've been accustomed to this situation. Leaning over, I said. "I'm new around here, I don't know what you guys call the drinks. So, could you whip me up something nice and strong?"

The bartender nodded knowingly and flashily produced a drink for me. Kakarot wheeled over to us and made room. He watched the bartender produce. He put down my drink, it smelled strong. I took a manly sip and blinked. Hot damn, this tasted great and it had a hell of a punch. The bartended eyed Kakarot up and down as well.

"I take it you two're together?"

I proceeded to down my drink when Kakarot nodded in response.

"What'll ya have then?"

Kakarot looked around trying to make sense of the menu. This kid's never been to a bar before. I put my drink down, growling. "Can I get another? The boy'll have something light. His story's the same."

This time, the bartender took out some other strange mixer and prepared Kakarots drink. Placing Kakarot's drink down in front of him, he began my drink. I peered over at Kakarot. He was sipping in a very unbecoming way, but after the initial first sip, he downed the damn thing.

"Wow! That was great!" He exclaimed.

The bartender chuckled putting my drink down. "That there's Sangria, my friend."

I pointed at my helldrink. "What's this then?"

The bartender laughed. "That there's a Zombie, strong as hell and flavorful."

I began enjoying my Zombie. "Fitting. Oi, when the boy's done with his, get him something stronger."

The night passed, and I was having a hellova time. The atmosphere was grand compared to the crapholes I've been to. I quickly found out this bar sold food as well as booze, which we ate heartily. The bartender was definitely a champ, he introduced me to several new drinks that day before I felt myself reaching my limit. His name was Fjosok, and he had exceptional skill on making each drink as showy as possible, even if it was just two ingredients. I've been an experienced drinker, just like my father before me, and I knew when to stop. Kakarot on the other hand didn't. We gave him increasingly potent drinks, and the boy must have missed his limit two or three drinks ago. Luckily I caught him drunkenly weave on his chair.

I laughed heartily. "The boy's done. Just get him water now, otherwise he'll have a hell of a hangover."

The human preparing our food was fine. A tall young man with short cut hairand a handsome face. He was quick and professional. Didn't catch his name. I ate heartily and drank a tiny bit more, inquiring about each new drink. All the while I kept Kakarot eating and drinking water until he eventually passed out. Earth sure had flavorful and exotic beverages and foods.

Downing my last drink, I laughed, knowing I was sloshed. It was well into the night now, nearing three am. "Alrright Fjosok, I'm done. So'sm'friend 'ere."

The bartender laughed. "S'alright my friend. Your total comes to 36,400 zenni."

I reached into Kakarot's gown and took the stack of bills he had. Each bill was marked at 10,000 zenni. Made sense for a stack of two million. Fjosok's eyes bugged out of his skull at the sight of the dosh.

I began counting the bills. "'Ow mush wassit?"

Fjosok gave a crafty grin. "Oh not much my friend, just 364,000 zenni."

I laughed hard with him and gave him 60,000 zenni for the good times. He told me the actual price right after, but I waved away the truth. I liked this cunning guy, I'd be coming again soon. Pushing Kakarot's wheelchair with one arm and propelling myself proved to be a challenging venture. Took me nearly an hour to get back to the hospital, but I was still zipping along with the snoring young saiyan.

The hospital was still active even at this hour, sheesh. Using my own sensing abilities even while buzzed, I managed to bring us back to our room without consequence. I laid Kakarot on his bed and covered his body, the poor boy was knocked out. I took my own bed and fell asleep.

The next day began with an angry Shin. I glanced at the clock on the wall, 8am. God damn it.

This place had cameras, so if we took off for the night, the hospital was very aware of it. Such a useful and infuriating technology working against me. Kakarot was still very much passed out, so only I got to hear Shin's earful about patient responsibility and how incredibly detrimental to my health my actions were. He used the phrase "Do you even want to get better" again once or twice on me. I grit my teeth and soldiered through his infuriating drivel and went back to sleep when he was done. I'm sick of this damn place.

The next time I was woken up was by Kakarot's wife's yells, but it wasn't directed at me. I peered at the clock again, it was noon. My attention turned to the noise, the small human woman was practically on top of Kakarot. It wasn't in a good way.

She yelled out in a loud shrill. "Goku! You smell like hard booze! What's wrong with you?!"

Kakarot was sitting up laughing with a worried expression. "Sorry Chi-Chi, but Nappa wanted to go out and brought me to a bar! I couldn't say no!"

She started shaking him by the gown. I watched him helplessly get shaken by her. Her yells continued. "Honestly Goku! You're supposed to be a good role model for Gohan! How is he supposed to grow up to be a responsible young man if his dad is a boozer and gives in to peer pressure so easily?!"

As she was shaking him, the cash fell out of his gown onto her lap. Confused, she eyed the stack of papers curiously and checked each individual bill quickly. She then turned to her mate and asked in a quiet soft voice. "Goku, did you rob a bank?"

Kakarot stammered and waved his hands at her defensively. "No no no, Chi-Chi! I didn't have any money and Nappa didn't either to do anything in the city so Dr. Briefs gave me a job to do and gave me the money up front." He stammered out.

"A job…" The woman stared at him for a moment, then stared at me. I shuffled in my sheets uncomfortably, I had no idea what the hell was going on in her head. She approached me for a moment, money still in hand and hugged me. "Thank you, thank you!" She yelled, squeezing around my neck tightly, before zipping back to her husband.

She kissed her husband on the cheek and divided the money stack evenly, handing him his stack. "Well honey, I'm going out to the city and do some shopping. I'll be back later tonight." She said, with a sweet girly voice. She took off practically skipping.

Both of us were left there stunned. She's practically been a harpy the entire time I've known her. I turned over to Kakarot, who looked equally bemused. Upon probing him a little, I found out the guy's never worked a job since he was a kid. Even as a kid, his master pocketed the money as it was for his training. Since living with Chi-Chi, all of the money they had was given to them by her father to pay their bills, while Kakarot hunted food, lumber, and trained the day away. To me it didn't sound like a pretty bad deal and they had good synergy, but it seemed as though Chi-Chi didn't like Kakarot being a literal bum who didn't bring in a single zenni.

Our day resumed as normal. We raced around our empty wing, breaking a few things here and there. The day passed as usual. Chi-Chi returned later that night with a huge stack of stuff. Familiar things, such as food, books, clothes, and what looked like medicine. Other than that, I couldn't tell what some of the other crap was, althought it looked like there was a television in that pile somewhere. She placed her stuff down in a corner and practically flew at her husband, combing his hair with her hands, remarking her father will be picking her and the stuff up tomorrow morning.

I glanced at the clock again, it was 10pm. Shin had left about an hour ago this night, and Kakarot had insisted on waiting on Chi-Chi, as she said she'd return tonight. I had a craving to revisit Fjosok again, or maybe find the good doctor an orphaned pet. With the woman in tow, the hunt for a dinosaur would have to wait.

I cleared my throat, interrupting Chi-Chi's lovey duvey display. "Alright, tonight we're gonna head out to Fjosok's bar again."

Kakarot's uncomfortable face changed to one of excitement. He clearly enjoyed his time there it seems. However, Chi-Chi was a different story, while her expression did drop, it didn't harden into one that would pose a challenge. "What? I wanted to spend time with Goku!"

I grinned at her. "Well, you'll be able to spend time with him at the bar. Don't worry, it's a nice place." I gave her a thumbs up.

She considered it for a moment, then gave in. We made our preparations to leave, and she sat on Kakarot's lap, ready for takeoff. I had told Kakarot that Shin had found out about our night time adventure and scolded me about it. That's all he did, scold me. Given that he already scolds us for going to the cafeteria, it makes no difference if he catches us afterwards. As long as nobody tries to stop us, we could come and go as we please.

Fjosok greeted us like old friends, and prepared our drinks before we even requested them. Upon hearing Chi-Chi was Kakarot's wife, he clapped Kakarot on the back and gave him another. Chi-Chi was fairly impressed with his showmanship, and our night began on a very high note. The night flew past, all of us making small talk, eating the delicious bar food, and getting increasingly drunk. Kakarot couldn't hold his liquour but Chi-Chi was almost as experienced as I was. When Kakarot started doing his drunken swaying, I figured now would be an appropriate time.

I cleared my throat and stared hard at him. "Hey, Goku."

He looked at me weakly, a big grin on his face.

Grumbling a bit, I choked out my words. "Thanks. I mean, for letting Vegeta and I live."

He laughed and nodded, patting my back. "Sno problem buddy, I wanted ta doit."

I grinned as the boy chowed down some more before passing out. Chi-Chi had heard that bit of the conversation, and leaned over her now unconscious husband to meet my gaze. "Hey Nappa, ain't Vegeta the one who came to Earth with ya?" I nodded in reply, she continued. "Ehhh, I get it. He your friend or something?"

Shaking my head, I groaned. "No, I raised the boy as if he were my own. He's like a son to me."

She gaped at me. "Woah, and he was a grown man?! How old are you even?"

Sipping my Old Fashioned, I answered. "56."

She nearly fell over at that news, even Fjosok's jaw dropped. She exclaimed. "You're older than my dad! You don't look a day over thirty!"

"Well, saiyans age well so we can fight longer. I haven't changed what I've looked like since I was around thirty, yeah. Vegeta's the one who ripped my hair out, I eventually shaved myself bald." I chuckled at her amazed reaction, and her holding up her unconscious husband's face. That's right lady, that handsome mug's gonna stay that way until he's eighty.

She gingerly put her love down back on the counter and turned to me. "So you raised him as a little boy?"

"That's right, I raised the prince and tried to instill all the virtues of his heritage and all that. Didn't work that way, he only saw me as a lapdog." Downing the rest of my drink, I slouched on the counter. "He was at the tender age of five, if I remember right. His father died, and I was tasked to be his partner. He didn't like that. I wasn't a replacement father for him, I was just a tool to further his cause in the end." It was difficult to admit that even after all this time.

Chi-Chi pat my on the back, nodding solemnly. "Yeah, I know how it's like. Most royals are spoiled rotten. People are still people. Don't lose hope, Nappa."

I stared at her. This was the last person who'd he'd expect a pep talk from. "What would you know about royalty, girl?" I began to down my drink awaiting a response.

She grinned at me. "I happen to be a princess." I nearly spat up my drink rounding on her, Fjosok stopped cleaning his stein to look at her. She giggled in response. "Yep, I'm princess of the Ox Kingdom. I know a thing or two about royalty and what it does to people."

Incredible, this girl was a real princess, married to a low ranked saiyan like Kakarot. This guy was incredibly lucky .Apparently they were childhood friends and he accidentally accepted a proposal from her from childhood and carried through it. Good man, Kakarot, good man.

Chi-Chi made for a great drinking partner, all things considered. She wasn't all that bad. I question her somewhat frightening mollycoddling of her child, but other than that she seemed to be a decent person. We talked and talked, the booze lightening the atmosphere with each passing drink. Eventually last call came around, and I turned over to Fjosok.

"How much will it be, buddy?"

Fjosok shook his head, laughing. "No no, Nappa. You drink free here. Come back soon." He winked at me and headed to the backroom before I could object.

Chi-Chi giggled at the long nosed man. "Well Nappa, looks like you're gonna eventually make as many friends as Goku."

Admittingly, that'd be a nice change of pace, but I'd be the last person to confirm that. I grunted in response. "Next time I'll be the nice guy."

We headed back to the hospital, by the time we left the bar the sun was rising. When we got to the hospital room undetected, we laid Kakarot back in bed, and I laid myself back onto mine, ready to pass out.

Chi-Chi made herself comfortable on a visitor chair with a blanket. "I'll just wait here until dad comes by. You'll take care of Goku until I get back, right Nappa?"

Lifting my head up, I grunted. "Yeah."

She chuckled. "Thanks, goodnight."

Today was Shin's day off. Upon waking up I looked at the clock, it was already 3pm. Chi-Chi had probably been long gone. Stretching, I peered over at Kakarot's bed. He was still fast asleep. Well this was good. Today we were going to complete the good doctor's quest. With nobody inspecting us today we could make good use of the day and dusk time. I hopped out of bed, wheeled over to him, and shook Kakarot.

"Oi, wake up boy." Kakarot rolled over snoring. I groaned.

"Goku! Wake up! We need to go!" I shook him harder, but no response. He looked like he was in a peaceful coma.

"Goku! Vegeta's back! He's coming to wipe us all out!" I shook him even harder. His knocked out expression was adorable, but we were burning daylight. I dropped him back on his bed.

I pondered for a moment, then it hit me. I got close enough to his face and whispered in a pathetic imitation of Chi-Chi's voice. "Goku~ Lunch time~!"

This proved to be a mistake, as he catapulted himself forward. His forehead collided with my nose, knocking me back onto my seat rolling backwards. I would be livid if I wasn't all my fault. Kakarot also looked like he was fairly hurt by the recoil damage.

He yelled out, covering his forehead. "Ow! What was that?!"

Holding my nose, I gingerly touched my mouth area. No blood. I'm okay, hurt but not damaged. "Hey Goku, let's go get Dr. Briefs that dinosaur."

Kakarot immediately looked up at me in a somewhat blank expression. "Oh, sure okay. Can we eat first?"

'Can we eat first' he asks. Of course we're going to eat first. Heading to the cafeteria was becoming routine. We eat a mild breakfast while a silent robot scans us, then we snuck out. This was the first time we snuck out during the day. We hesitated in many turns, as there were people walking around at every corridor, and then eventually we made it out.

Heading to the plains took a lot sooner than I thought. Kakarot locked onto one of the huge lizard's energy and had me follow him, we reached the grasslands before the sun even started setting. After a few moments, we found them. There they all were, in all their glory. Hundreds of dinosaurs roaming around in a pack, herbivores no doubt. Kakarot watched them all with a grin, they were all grazing now as the sun was setting.

I figured we would just take a baby and bring that to Dr. Briefs, but Kakarot objected to it. Dr. Briefs had requested an orphaned pet. When I pointed out if we killed and ate one or both of their parents, the baby would then be an orphan, Kakarot again objected. I think I understood, but it'd be mighty tough to find an orphan in this pack, they all seemed tight knit. The plan would be as follows: We would wait until nighttime until the dinosaurs would each find a spot to sleep with their families. If we saw any dinosaur babies who slept all on their own, we would take that one if it were willing. It seemed like a sound plan.

Night time rolled around and they arranged themselves into family units instead of a huge herd. Not a single baby or adult was alone, no eggs to speak of either. Our plan was a complete flop.

I sighed irritated. "Alright Kakarot, let's try to find a lone baby somewhere now in the dark." Turning around, I began wheeling myself in the opposite direction. Kakarot's good arm stopped me.

"Wait, Nappa." His voice was hard, his eyes resolute.

I waited until I felt it too. A large power was approaching, one larger than any one of these packs. I figured it might be the boss herbivore, but had too much of a menacing feeling. It was headed towards the camp.

Suddenly, a large tyrannosaurus dinosaur charged into the herbivores camp. It was picking out the smallest unit and charging it with its mouth open wide.

Nature was about to take its course. The camp was in disarray, the gentle giants were fleeing as a unit while the tyrannosaurus gave chase.

Then, something weird happened. The tyrannosaurus was surrounded on all sides and was being closed in on. Brontoauruses stomping with their huge bodies, triceratopses bucking their horns menacingly, and ankylosauruses waving their spiked tails at the beast. I honestly felt a little bad watching what was surely about to be a curb stomp, the carnivore didn't have any kind of escape route, so if it tried to run though, it'd get stomped on, gored, or flailed. Instead of fleeing to hunt another day, the tyrannosaurus was pressured to fight.

I whistled. The poor T Rex didn't have a chance. The carnivore bit violently at one of the armored lizards, only to get blindsided by the others. Getting knocked to its side by the combined efforts of the triceratops unit and then being trampled by the huge brontosauruses, the enemy was quickly dispatched. So much for that idea. I turned to Kakarot, he shrugged.

"It came to the wrong neighborhood." I asked loosely.

Kakarot looked around and made off in the direction that the fallen dinosaur had charged in from. I followed quickly, wondering what caught his attention. When I caught up to him, a huge grin betrayed my face. That T Rex was a parent, and it had left behind an egg the size of my head. The egg's energy was small, but lively. I figured it would hatch soon.

We decided we would bring the egg to the hospital instead of delivering it directly to Dr. Briefs. By the time we would arrive in the city, it'd be well into night time and he might be asleep, so we'd deliver it to him tomorrow. I held the egg as we were returning to the hospital.

Once we arrived back to our hospital room without being detected, we set the egg on top of an empty bed. The egg would shake every now and then, so we arranged the blankets in the shape of a nest to prevent it from falling off. The clock read midnight, meaning any trips to the bar would be short visit. I decided against going, instead deciding to spend it relaxing. Kakarot seemed to agree, he was aleady under the covers, not yet asleep.

Suddenly, a piece of egg shell hit my face. I recoiled a little, startled at the sharp piece. I took a look at the egg, it was actually hatching. I carried myself to my chair and wheeled over to the egg, this would be the first time I'd ever seen something being born. Kakarot quickly joined me, noticing the piece of egg shell on my face. I saw a tiny lizard head crack out, and then a tail. Soon, the tiny tyrannasour was fully hatched, peering at the two of us curiously.

I poked the little thing's head, it retreated to the corner of its nest. Kakarot picked it up gingerly, the creature allowing him. We spent several hours playing with the little guy, it was cute for a miniature T Rex. Once we both began to feel sleepy around the three am mark, we tried lulling the baby to sleep. After several attempts of rocking and failed lullabies, it finally went to sleep, and we followed suit.

Upon waking up, I searched for the baby. Our dinosaur baby had hopped out of its nest and was roaming the room, inspecting its strange new world. It was cute in a way, Kakarot would enjoy this. Shame he was sawing logs.

Kakarot woke up a few hours later and joined me in playing with the dinosaur. Later that day, Shin entered the room with two burly men behind him. The dinosaur, Kakarot, and I looked at him expectantly. He cleared his throat.

"Good afternoon gentlemen. It's come to my attention that you're now harboring a dinosaur in your room. I've checked protocol and legal, all is well. Further, I've checked your charts and right now I can safely say the both of you are in stable condition, nothing life threatening. I don't have any problems discharging you now." He put his clipboard to his side and assumed a casual position. "Maybe you'd be more... comfortable... if you were to resume your recovery period at some other location?"

This is what I've been wanting to hear for so long. Yes, I would. I'm so sick of this place. Now that we were stable, we could leave. I didn't need to be here anyway! I nodded my head vigorously at the doctor. "Yes, let's get out of here." The discharge process was quick and painless. We signed some release papers, and we were let go. I was given my belongings in a box, as was Kakarot, and then we were finally let go with our dinosaur baby. I got to keep my gown, as did Kakarot. Once outside the building and the sun shining down on us, we took off to Dr. Briefs' place.

Upon arriving, we headed to the ship. There, he was hard at work, but turned to us as we approached. He smiled jubilee. "Hello boys! What brings you here?"

Kakarot picked up the dinosaur and held it over his head with his good arm. "Hey Dr. Briefs, I got you your dinosaur." The dinosaur squirming around, clearly distressed being handled so carelessly.

The doctor charged Kakarot, looking at the dinosaur in his hand. He picked it up gingerly and wagged his finger in front of it. The dinosaur naturally bit his finger, causing him to yelp out and laugh. He released the miniature tyrannosaurus onto the ground, where it promptly began exploring.

"Excellent find boys! I'll have to contract you for more fetch jobs I have in the future."

Both of us laughed alongside him. He was a fun old doctor. I took a longing look at the huge attack ball. There was a noticeable progress since a few days ago. Dr. Briefs interrupted my train of thought. "I notice you boys carrying hospital possession boxes."

Kakarot chuckled. "Yeah, they said we were good and could leave if we wanted."

The good doctor brushed his moustache and beard knowingly. "Finally kicked you out did they? Our receptionist had her hands full with constant calls coming from that place. Well, if you want to help out with the ship, you can stay here!"

I beamed, answering before thinking. "Sounds great!"

He chuckled. Scooping up the dinosaur, he guided us inside the large building. There we were met by blond haired woman carrying a tray with beverages.

She gave us a squinted smile. "Goku! Long time no see!"

Kakarot gave a wave. "Hey! Bulma's mom!"

Dr. Briefs turned to me, and pointed over to the blond haired woman. "This is my wife, Panty. Panty, this is Nappa, one of Bulma's friends."

She zipped to me, looking me up and down. "Oh my! So you're Nappa! Nice to meet you, I'm Bulma's mom!"

My gaze went from the blond beauty to Dr. Briefs rapidly. God damn, Dr. Briefs. I cleared my throat and offered my hand. "Hey, I'm Nappa."

She giggled and instead of taking my hand, she grabbed my arm, carrying the tray with one hand. "My, oh my! You're a big man! My Bulma just makes the most interesting friends!"

I gulped, what? She offered me a glass, I took it. I recognized this drink. According to Fjosok, this was sake. Good.

Dr. Briefs cleared his throat. "Panty! The boys here got thrown out of the hospital. Could you show them to the guest rooms? I have to make some calls."

She let go of me. "Alright hun! Okay boys, follow me!" She beckoned us to follow, walking away.

The good doctor called out to us. "Make sure they're in separate bedrooms! Boys, when you're done with her, meet me at ship."

She led us through a few corridors of the large building. All the while she was… flirting with me and Kakarot. She was giving us a tour. She showed us the dining area, the atrium, and several other relevant places to us. Passing several robot servants, human workers, and machinery, we arrived to a door that read 'Guest Bedrooms'. Opening the door lead to a hall filled with numbered doors.

She giggled. "Alright sweeties. Goku, you can be number one. Nappa darling, you can take the second room. Each room has its own bathroom and I'll call you for food. Oh my, I nearly forgot! With Goku here I need to refill my pantry! You boys have fun okay?" She rushed off in the direction we came from.

We both grinned at each other, wheeling ourselves into the guest room. It was huge! A bed, a bathroom, plenty of room to roll around in. So much room for stuff that I didn't own. I peeked at my room, it was identical, and there must have been at least twenty of these rooms lined up. I put my sake ontop of my dresser in my room and left the room, Kakarot was waiting for me.

He nodded. "Alright, let's go meet Dr. Briefs."

I followed him back out to the outside. The stout white haired doctor was waiting for us, looking over his shoulder while he was working on the ship.

He waved us over. "Good, good! I hope you're all settled in. Little Herbert's in the atrium now meeting its new family. I can't thank you enough. Oh, that reminds me." He gave Kakarot another stack of money. It rested on his lap. "Yosh, there you are."

Kakarot looked down at his lap, and I saw the color drain from his face. He faced the doctor, sputtering. "S-Stop throwing money at me! I don't like it!" I stole a glance at the cash, it was roughly the same size as the last batch.

He laughed again. "Oh, Goku. Two million wasn't nearly enough for that specimen. Why, baby paozusauruses go for nearly twenty million zenni! Just consider this a job well done."

Kakarot groaned audibly. I didn't understand exactly why he was so downcast, but I shrugged it off. The good doctor continued. "Any who, I let your wife and Roshi know you're staying here now. I'll have a nurse from the medical team here check up on you two maybe weekly to make sure you're okay. Can never trust those quacks over at the hospital eh?" He snickered to himself.

I couldn't agree more. That place was more of a prison than it was a hospital. No matter, I wouldn't have to go there ever again. "I was so sick of that place." We all laughed, Kakarot and I still wheelchair bound and the rest of our wait wouldn't be nearly as bad if we could come and go as we pleased.

Dr. Briefs turned to me. "So Nappa, think you can help me a little with this ship?"

I beamed. "Sure!"

* * *

Author's Note: HEY LOOK IT'S A CHAPTER THAT'S NOT A MONTH APART AND IT'S THE LONGEST ONE HOW WEIRD IS THAT.

I hope you degenerates enjoy this chapter. I enjoyed writing it. I deliberately ended the chapter arriving onto the Briefs household for a reason. I would like to ask the audience for what they want. Now, I'm not going to be a wish granting genie all the time, but I could really go either way for the next chapter.

Ahem: Chapter 5; Nappa and Goku have more awesome hijinx? Or do Nappa and Goku jump into the space ship and blast off into Namek? I know a lot of you might enjoy this kind of slice of life stuff, but I also know a lot of you are bloodthirsty savages who want to see Goku and Nappa rip the Ginyu Force in half ASAP.

Send me your desires via PMs, reviews, and all that good crap. This sort of thing won't happen often.

Oh yeah and if any of you guys are into Undertale: I'm writing another story at the same time as this one where Gohan is the protagonist of that game. I call it 'Gohan in Underland'. If any of you care.


	5. Chapter 5

I raised my eyebrow. "Why the hell would we need a coffee maker?"

The good doctor was showing me his blueprints to the nearly completed ship. For some reason the doctor was insisting that we put in a coffee dispenser in there within the living quarters.

Dr. Briefs met my eyes sternly. "Don't underestimate the power of Earth's coffee, Nappa my boy. Why, it's the only reason I'm able to go several days working without even feeling a little bit tired."

Scratching my chin, I suppose he did have a point. Dr. Briefs had spent several days on this project without catching any sleep. If it was due to the Earth's coffee and not due to the doctor's own stamina, then the coffee may be a boon for the interstellar training. I nodded at last, he chuckled.

"Good to know we're on the same page. Now, about that stereo system…"

Unfortunately for me, I wasn't of much help at all when it came to designing or creating the ship. I knew what things did and the general gist of some contraptions. How they worked and what generates energy to power said things? Beats the hell out of me. The doctor kept me around anyway. Either for company or pity, I don't know.

Only a week has passed since our departure from the hospital, which meant a full month has gone by since the others departed. Give or take, anyway. Our daily routine was now completely unhindered by the hospital totalitarianism. Kakarot and I took to exercising and mild training while our wounds healed, then I would go to outside garden to assist the doctor in any way I could. I think Kakarrot spent this time hanging out in the atrium with the dinosaurs. I didn't have any interest in those dinosaurs as long as I couldn't eat them.

The doctor was insistent on adding in loads of questionable things in our space ship. A month into production, the ship was very nearly completed. The gravity chamber was installed that functioned without impeding the ship's course and the living quarters just needed the bed to be bolted down. A coffee maker would be useful for training yes. But that was only if the coffee was some kind of magical elixir that made it so that we didn't require rest. A stereo system though, I had to put my foot down.

Shaking my head, I sighed. "Doc, I don't get how a stereo system is going to help us at all. Training with music doesn't make sense. Don't give me crap about how the music on this planet is magic either."

Grinning again, he turned on the prototype stereos. A vibrant, energetic, and loud song started playing. Somehow, it made me want to move. I laughed.

"You win." I relented.

"Trust me, I'm a doctor." He said simply, turning off the stereo system. "Now, the last thing I'd want to add in is voice activated controls for the gravity pod." He paused momentarily, as if waiting for me to ask why.

I rolled my eyes. "Why?"

He clasped his hands together. "Yosh. Let's say for instance you're training at a hundred times gravity and can't take it anymore. You're also tied down upside down doing upside down crunches from the ceiling. Whoops, gravity is at a hundred times and you can't turn it off! Lucky for you, Doctor Briefs had the foresight so you only have to say 'ducks go quack' for the gravity to instantly deactivate."

There was so much silliness in that it was unbelievable. I stammered for a moment. "Ducks go what? And what kind of putz would put himself in that scenario?!"

He chuckled at me knowingly. "Well in any case, it's an excellent fail-safe."

After another successful day of progress on the increasingly completed ship, I made my way to the dining area to get some more of Panty's cooking. It smelled delicious, and tasted even better. Kakarot was already there, scarfing down a healthy saiyan's amount of food. Once we were done, we gave our compliments to Panty and her helpers, who had marveled at us the entire time. They never really got used to our appetite, judging from their expressions.

Once we got some food in, Kakarot and I did even more mild training until it was time to turn in. Ordinarily, we would have then gone to the bar and drunk ourselves stupid after training, but neither of us was in the mood. I mused that Chi-Chi would be pleased that Kakarot wasn't spending every night boozing.

My new nightly rituals included saying goodnight to the staff and Kakarot, then turning into my room. I would discard by hospital garb immediately leaving myself with just my briefs. Brushing my teeth, a steamy shower with my good friend the wheelchair, and then plopping myself onto my bed after getting my pajamas on, I relaxed. It was what they called a 'onesie', and it stretched to fit my build. I looked like a panda bear, according to Panty. Beds on this planet were so soft and comfortable, it took a while to get used to. I chuckled, and went to sleep.

* * *

"Wake up, Nappa!"

I felt myself get thrown out of bed. My eyes blinked open as I regarded the situation. My cot had been overturned. Peering over my shoulder to see what caused this, I found Vegeta snarling at me.

"Get up, you useless buffoon!" He said, impatiently tapping his foot.

About to protest, I found my body rise up and land solidly on the ground with my feet. I had the use of my legs back. Dumbstruck, I turned to Vegeta awaiting orders. He didn't like when I did that.

Vegeta's expression darkened. "What are we here to do, Nappa?"

I have no god damn idea. "I don-"

The prince shouted. "You were to lay waste to the northern quadrant of this planet, while I handled the other three! Look what I find after eradicating MY task, you asleep not even STARTED on yours! As if I didn't have enough slack to put up with. Now we're behind schedule AND the planet's inhabitants are scurrying underground!"

I tilted my head. I never disappointed the prince this hard. What… what?

He cleaved the cot I was sleeping on in two. "Now what are we supposed to do? Go back to Frieza and report our failure?"

I stood there, not fully sure what to say.

In an instant, both Vegeta and I were kneeling to Frieza in his private chambers. Zarbon and Dodoria were nowhere to be found. The small tyrant and his horned head was listening intently.

The prince's words shook. "That is my report, my lord."

The emperor of the cosmos sighed deeply. "Vegeta…"

Despite knowing I should keep my eyes closed, I couldn't help but watch. Frieza extended his finger and shot an energy beam that pierced Vegeta's shoulder. The prince stayed in his kneeling position unflinching. The tyrant approached Vegeta. The short demon's tail slamming the prince down to the ground hard enough to crack it.

"Vegeta, do you know why I send you to missions at all?" The tyrant slammed his tail onto Vegeta's back. Even Vegeta couldn't help but let out a yell of pain. "My precious, beloved, pet saiyan monkey, being sent off to planets far from my sight. Why would I send such a prize to do jobs when I can keep you around to look pretty?"

Frieza's tail wrapped itself around Vegeta's neck. Not at all delicately, Vegeta was lifted from the ground to meet Frieza's gaze. "Because, Vegeta, you are known for your thorough work. You please me greatly with your track record. So of course, you're the first person I would count on for important tasks such as that particular planet."

I couldn't tear my eyes away, this was horrible.

Frieza continued, his tail gripping Vegeta's neck enough for the prince to groan in pain. The tyrant's eyes narrowed. "So disappointing… You're an incompetent man. I am thoroughly disgusted with you. I had thought that you would deliver onto me a planet perfect for me without an infestations of its inhabitants. But because of your incompetent mistakes, you denied me that chance." The prince coughed up some blood, the constricting was becoming too much for him to bear. I held back my rage, it was taking all of my resolve.

"It seems I have thought too highly of you, Vegeta. As it stands I may have to consider demoting you from your current post. People who are weak when it counts cannot be trusted, you see. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Vegeta hung from the emporers tail silently. I wondered if he had passed out during Frieza's monologue.

"Apology accepted." With a flick of his pink and black tail, Frieza threw Vegeta's body infront of me. Frieza gave me a pleasant smile.

"Do see your prince recovers, manservant. I'll need him alive."

The scene shifted to Vegeta emerging out of the regeneration pod. Another planet, another doctor. Vegeta's completely nude body shone as he left the chamer as he stared at me.

He looked annoyed. "Well what are you doing, you buffoon?"

I jumped. What the hell. "I don't know, I…"

"You never know anything useful, Nappa. Now let's go, we have to find out if Raditz has completed his assignment on Planet Churn."

I gulped. "Thanks for not outing me, Vegeta."

He snarled at me. "FOOL! Frieza would have thought I was passing the blame onto you. Chances are my punishment would have been more intense. Don't get any ideas of me 'covering' for you, you idiot."

Vegeta punched me in my stomache in a flash, as I fell onto my knees. His voice became distant and echoing as I felt my consciousness fading. He called my name repeatedly, probably to tell me to get up, but my vision fizzled out. The prince did not know his own strength…

* * *

A sound of the intercom in the room called my name repeatedly. It was Kakarot's voice. Ugh.

I woke up feeling sick. I felt my stomach absently, must have eaten something gnarly last night. I searched for the blasted clock. It was early morning. Kakarot was known for turning waking up early as long as he wasn't liquored up, but he usually left me alone to sleep in. I pressed the button to let him in.

Kakarot rolled himself in accompanied with the old man Roshi. I grunted in their entrance and began to take off of my pajamas. They've both seen me in nothing but by briefs so what the hell. "Old man, Goku. I was asleep, what is it?"

The younger saiyan chuckled. "Master Roshi wanted to talk to us together!" I raised my eyebrow, what could he want with me?

The old man cleared his throat. "Ahem, so now that I finally have the two of you together. I have something to show you boys. I paid Korin a visit." Kakarot's eyes lit up, I continued to stare at the old man as he fought with his coat pocket.

From his coat he brought out two green beans covered in lint. I tilted my head, were these the…

"Senzu Beans, my boys. Korin's still working on the overall crop, but he's saying he was very lucky to have the foresight to have left that extra day early. Says the bean crop will be larger than if he started even a day later. Heh heh!" With that, he flicked both beans at each of us. Kakarot caught his with his mouth like a dog. I caught mine with my hand. I stared at mine for a while. I heard crunching as if Kakarot was chewing glass or something.

Watching him, he jumped upright and did a flip. He landed on his feet and then while flexing, broke off the casts. I clapped for the excited boy then continued to stare at the bean in my fingers. Kakarot's injuries were much less permanent than mine. They assured me this would work though, it was a true panacea! Dusting off the old coat lint off of my bean, I put it in my mouth and chewed. Tastes like fish, smells like garlic. Damn thing was annoying to chew through, it was like a cross between an uncooked bean and a celery stalk.

Swallowing, I didn't feel anything different. Roshi and Kakarot's eyes were on me, huge grins on their faces. While contemplating on how to snap their necks for making a fool of me, I felt a huge burst in my stomach, and my stomachache was gone. Then, just as quickly, my stomach was filled, it was if I've eaten enough to burst. I let out a little burp, then felt my legs burst. I felt my legs.

Practically in a trance, I felt my legs with my hands. I could feel my muscly legs, and much more importantly, I could feel my hands with my thighs. I was speechless. Words wouldn't leave my throat. Standing up, I bent my knees rapidly. I kicked at the air, this was happening, was I dreaming?

Roshi pulled out a fork and handed it to me. "Here, it's not a dream. Go ahead, give it a try. See if you wake up."

Taking the fork, I stabbed my leg. I yelled out in pain, and then stumbled on my vacant wheelchair and fell onto my face. Never before have I laughed as genuinely as I did then. I could walk again.

Kakarot helped me up, while Roshi cackled madly. "My word, I didn't think you'd actually do that. Heh heh. So as you might feel, side effect of the bean is that you practically don't need food for the next ten days. You saiyans though, you might get hungrier later today.

I hadn't walked in ages. If it wasn't so exciting to have my lower half back I would have been annoyed at the chore it was to maintain my balance. Kakarot chatted freely with Roshi. Kakarot was wearing the same set of clothing that he first wore when I fought him. I unfortunately didn't have that luxury, as my armor was lost in the battlefield. Not that it mattered, it was damaged so it wasn't really wearable and I didn't have an extra set on me.

The only footwear that they could find me was a set of comically large fuzzy slippers. They outfitted me in a bizzare stretchy sweat-pants and something called a poncho for a top. I honestly preferred the hospital garb, as it made me feel less like an ass-clown.

On our way to the ship, we passed Panty who practically did a double-take at us walking around and about. We didn't stop to chat though, we needed to see the good doctor.

Upon reaching the ship we found Dr. Briefs hard at work on the ship. Kakarot grinned at him. "Hey, Dr. Briefs! How's the ship coming along?"

The doctor started, then turned around to face us. "Oh, Goku! Nappa! Roshi! When did you all get there? I see you're walking around. Excellent, maybe we don't need that nurse after all. It's goin' all right."

Kakarot drummed his fingers on the entrance of the ship. "So how much longer?" He asked sheepishly.

"Oh, I'd say about a week or so. Need to finish fine tuning it what with the bed installed. I also made a terrible miscalculation; I've got two saiyans using this thing, so I'll need five refrigerators instead of one! I've got these puppies with engines strong enough to get you to Namek in a week! Consequently, Bulma and the others should be landing there in a week. Isn't that funny?"

I gave a half sincere chuckle. The doctor sucked at humor. Kakarot didn't miss a beat. "So doc, the gravity control thingy, is THAT working?"

"Oh. Oh yes that thing. Come this way my boy, this way. You too, Nappa." He beckoned me over. I hopped into the machine with a giddy Kakarot in tow. Roshi watched from outside. The good doctor pointed at the center column of the ship. "So all you is just set the gravity number with these buttons and… poof, the gravity goes to that number. I've set it so the maximum is at a hundred. It'd take me another few weeks to calibrate it any higher, sorry.

Kakarot patted the machine fondly. I raised an eyebrow at him, he seemed too interested in this gravity training when we could just train outside with much more space. Granted this would be for the trip over there, but still.

Kakarot gave a last good pat. "Hey Doctor Briefs, can I give it a try? Maybe use it until we go into space?"

The good doctor furrowed his brow. "No, Goku. I can't have you breaking it before it's even finished. What if Bulma needs you? No no, best to just use it when it's completed."

The boy's face fell. "Aw come on, just a quick little test?"

The doctor chuckled. "Oh alright. Can't ever seem to say no to you. Go ahead, no more than 25G and ONLY this time. You have five minutes." The doctor hopped out of the ship and sealed the door behind him. I heard his voice through the closed door. "Let's go Roshi, let's let the boys have some fun. Ho ho ho!"

We stood there, I folded my arms together. "Kakarot, we could just train outside. Why are you so excited for this gravity training crap?"

He was busy fooling around with the controls. "Well, you see, I was training with King Kai while I was dead, and his gravity was ten times Earths. So I figured, if I train at an even higher gravity, I could match Vegeta's power level easily. He said no more than 25, right?"

I nodded and unfolded my arms as the machine began to buzz. Whoever this King Kai was, he did train a warrior weaker than Raditz enough to challenge Vegeta. If anything, maybe this was with merit. Suddenly, I had trouble standing, and felt myself fall to my knee.

"Wha… what the hell is this?" I turned to Kakarot, who also seemed to be struggling. "G-Goku, is this…?"

The boy chuckled. "Yeah, this is exactly what I felt when I was in King Kai's place at first, but then it got easy. So as long as I don't rely on Kaio-ken, I'll get much stronger handling this."

I winced against the gravity, both my knees falling. "Kaioken…? You're not making sense…"

Kakarot nodded and suddenly stood upright and began doing flips and twirls. I gaped at him, he could handle this that easily at the flip of a switch?

Landing back in front of the machine he chuckled at my awed expression. He turned the machine off. He was noticeably winded. "Kaio-ken, it magnifies my power a certain number of times and makes me become sort of a super me, but it takes a huge toll on my body. I used it to catch up to you and um, stop you." He finished, looking slightly guilty.

Picking myself up, I cracked my neck with my thoughts racing. So Kakarot had a technique that amplified his power level enough to match Vegeta. If I considered him my equal in terms of strength that means that I wouldn't have a chance against him if he used Kaio-ken. If Vegeta and I could get our hands on this technique, then even toppling Frieza seemed like a very real possibility.

Wait a minute! This could be my ticket to catching up to Vegeta! Now that I think about it, if I wanted to have the prince learn it was wrong to toss me aside like garbage, then this kiao-ken is exactly what I needed. The only problem was getting Kakarot to teach me this incredibly valuable technique. That would be my biggest hurdle. I sighed. "So what are the chances I can get you to teach me that?"

Kakarot gave me a doofy happy expression. "I can teach it to you right now if you want to!"

I grinned, cracking my knuckles. I didn't want to badmouth the boy, but he was too trusting for his own good. He continued speaking. "If I'm going to have a training partner, then I'm gonna need you to get to my level.

I couldn't help but laugh. Kids these days.

We resolved to teach me how to do that technique at some later time, before we needed to blast off but after we got something to eat. I don't know what that old man was talking about. That bean filled me up for the morning and afternoon, but now that the sun was going down my stomach craved dinner. The plan is for Kakarot to go back home and eat some home cooked food with Chi-Chi, while I ate some more food by Panty. The next day after breakfast, we would meet in the atrium and begin my lessons. He made it look easy, but that didn't mean anything. I have to be prepared to learn this technique as fast as possible before we take off to get the most out of our training.

Walking through to the kitchen to get some pre-dinner food, I ran into Panty. She giggled to herself and approached me. "Nappa, darling! You look well! Where's Goku?"

I continued to search through their fridge for anything to snack on. "Well, he's back home, he'll be back tomorrow. I'm great, thanks."

She pouted a little, but then immediately brightened up. She grabbed one of my arms with both hands. "Oh poo. Well I'll keep you company dear. Come, follow me."

She was nowhere near as strong as to pull me away, I simply followed her. I have to admit, I was morbidly curious as to what she was doing with me. My curiosity intensified as we left the building.

"Where are we-?"

She chirped happily, "I'd love the help of a big strong man to help me get some groceries! As a special treat, I'll even let you pick what the main dish will be, sweety!"

I gaped at her for a moment, allowing her to pull me across the street. It's not like I had anything better to do, but she could have at least asked. "Sure whatever." I sighed, following her slender body.

The supermarket, as it was labeled, was huge. We entered the air conditioned building and I gaped. The selections were incomparable. Vegetables all neatly in one section, frozen instant foods all in another isle, and all the foods separated. Snacks, dairy, rice, everything I could imagine had their own blasted isle. I felt like a child in a candy store. I felt the woman's tiny hands leave my arm.

"Dear, please grab us a cart and we can get started." She pointed to some carts and made her way to the vegetable section.

Looking over to the carts, I grabbed a cart with my right hand and carried it to her. She was preoccupied with measuring the cabbage so I simply stood there, cart in hand.

Turning around, she went to put the cabbage in the cart, but then began to giggle. "Goku did the same thing too when I asked him to help me grocery shop! No no, put it down and push it." She began patting my arm as I slowly put the cart down. She quickly added "Don't push it too hard now, otherwise it might go flying!"

We went up and down the sections. Time seemed to slow down as I began to enjoy myself. I thought I had seen a good variety of human food before, but I quickly learned that I haven't even scratched the surface. After about an hour of shopping with three carts practically bursting with food, we exited the market. While I was grabbing all the bags of food, she again was grabbing my arms.

"My, Nappa! You sure grabbed a lot of food. You're going to give me quite a work out!"

I grumbled a little, not knowing what to say. Mercifully, she continued. "Now, I have this lovely idea of what to make for food dinner tonight with what we've bought! Oh, you'll love it."

She wasn't wrong. Her dinners were always amazing, better than bar food or hospital food, but today's food was absolutely delicious. Delicate meats, flavorful greens, and tons of rice. She smiled happily as I devoured her night's work and gave me an approving nod. Her helpers on the other hand all stared at me in awe. After dinner, I took some plates of food with me back to my room to end the night with. She waved goodbye to me, saying that breakfast will be just as good.

Entering my room and discarding my clothes onto the floor, I hopped into the shower. It was now that I had privacy, and practiced bending my legs more and more. A smile betrayed my face. I was really cured. I was really, really cured.

Emerging from the shower and having brushed my teeth, I figured I would turn in early. Still naked and wet, I walked onto my bed to look for my briefs and pajamas. They weren't on top of the bed where I usually left them. I checked the floor, my second guess. Nothing down there. Maybe they were under the bed? I got on all fours and looked under the bed.

I didn't hear the door open.

"Oh my goodness!" came a high pitched yell.

I turned around at the intrusion. Mrs. Briefs was staring at me with her face in a surprised expression with an overturned basket full of clothes on the floor. She didn't cover her eyes, and I couldn't tell if her eyes were friggen closed or opened. I faced her, not covering myself in confusion.

"C-Can you see me right now?" I asked, perplexed.

"Yes!" She squealed. "What a body!"

Covering myself with a bedsheet, I rolled my eyes at the woman's reactions. She wasn't blushing and she didn't look away at all. I cleared my throat uncomfortably, prompting her to talk.

"Oh, Oh sorry dear. I don't know what happened. I just saw you like that and froze! I don't know what came over me." At last she looked away, looking a little embarrassed. Within an instant though, she returned to her peppy demeanor. "Nappa, darling. I wanted to know if you wanted to go out clothes shopping with me right now. I'm sorry we have so little clothing for you, so I want to get you something more your style, hun!"

Next thing I knew, we were at a fancy 'big and tall' dress store. I was in my hospital garb being shown all manners of clothing that fit or suit me. After picking several garments and listening to Panty's encouragement, suggestions, and wolf whistling we finished our selection. Surprisingly, my figure was really good for coats, and so I was very neatly dressed. I felt suspiciously formally dressed, with my new black coat, black dress pants, long sleeved white shirt, and fancy dress shoes. Of course, Panty coughed up for all of this. I didn't even see her pay, we just walked in and walked right out. Did she have a tab?

We casually walked from the store and headed back to Capsule Corporation. Panty wasn't holding onto me as she usually was. Her hands were free too, as I always carried the bags. I sighed in relief, she was too handsy for a married woman. Too flirty too. How the hell does the good doctor manage her? She stopped walking. I tore myself from my thoughts and glanced at her. She was noticeably irritated. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm about to be kidnapped, dear. Shoot, this always happens when I'm having a good time." She pouted. I hadn't even noticed the gangsters in front of us.

Six men, all smartly dressed blocked the way. They all must have been Kakarot's age. A tall man with a large pea-shooter approached us. "Mrs. Briefs, nice to see you a'ain. You're comin' with us, I need to make another witdrawl at Banco De Briefs."

He grabbed her shoulder with one hand, pulling her towards him. She turned around at me with a pleading pout. "Nappa dear, you can make it back from here yes?" The tall man groped her as she spoke to me. What would Kakarot do in a situation like this? Well, he broke MY back to help his friends, so maybe I could break his back? What about Vegeta?

The tall man and his ridiculous hair pointed his gun at me. "Ey bub. Do wut the lady says. Beat it. We gotta extort some cas'." I stood still, bags in hand. I felt the human's energy. I could rip through him like wet tissue.

The tall man tisked at me and fired a warning shot next to me. Panty yelped in surprise. I glanced down where the bullet had landed. I could have stopped that in mid-air if I had wanted to. The tall man continued. "Baldy. You're givin' me a 'ard time 'ere…" I stared him down. My mind was still occupied of the ways Vegeta would torture them. It brought a little smile on my face. He clenched his teeth. "BOYS. YOU KNOW WUT TO DO."

The idle gangsters charged me, all wielding bats and pipes. I let them whack me a little while until they stopped. I supposed when I didn't wince after being wailed on for a few seconds they realized the futility of their actions. I chuckled a little. "Keep it goin' boys." I came to the conclusion that I didn't have to do what Kakarot or what Vegeta would do. I could teach them all a lesson my own way, as long as I didn't outright kill them. That wouldn't piss anyone important off, right?

The tall man shouted with newfound fury. "BOYS, CLEAR IT." The young men scrambled out of the way while the tall man's gun shot another bullet. I didn't catch it and simply let it ricochet off of my face. The look on everyone's face was priceless.

I put my newly bought clothes down and punched a young man into the ground hard. I deliberately held back to make it so he wouldn't die, but at the same time he wasn't awake. The young man was now silenced, unconscious, and in a small crater for dramatic effect. I didn't see the other's faces, but I sure heard their yells.

One by one, I punched each man into their own personal cement hole. Of course, they all began to run away. Compared to my speed though, it was if they were standing still. All I did was zip to one, and punch them down. After they were eating dirt, I would continue to the next. After getting three down, the last two were crying to let me go.

It wasn't the first time I heard my prey beg for mercy.

At last the only one left was the tall ringleader. I grinned evilly, cracking my knuckles thinking what I should do with this one.

Panicking, the tall man pointed the gun at Panty's head. "B-BACK OFF OLD MAN. I AIN'T MESSIN' AROUND!" I zipped behind him and flicked the gun away. He let Panty go, to which she immediately ran away to my bags. I grabbed the ring leader's head with one hand. I think I knew what I wanted to do with him.

I heard his terrified sobs. "P-Please d-don't k-k-kill me man. Wuteva you wan', it's y-yours…"

Ordinarily, I would pop his head like a grape. Instead I brought his face down into the concrete ground and mushed his face into the pavement. I took extra care to keep a check on his life force. The ground was pretty solid, but it still cracked as it made room for his face. His muffled screams fell to small whimpers which fell to silence. That was fun.

I heard clapping from another direction. Panty applauded me with an exuberant smile on her face. "Wow Nappa! Thank you so much!" She stopped and handed me my bags. Grabbing my arms again, she led the way to the Capsule Corporation.

On the way, she sighed sadly. "Those creeps are so handsy. They always do that before contacting my hubby or daughter." I said nothing, feeling a bit awkward about the whole situation. That kind of harassment exists on this planet too, huh? She regained her chipperness. "But you! You stopped them, thank you so much! You're just as strong as Goku!"

I grinned at the compliment. She's right, I was just as strong as Kakarot, wasn't I?

She giggled like a schoolgirl. "Just as handsome and sexy too!"

I stared at her, jaw open. Flustered, I briskened my pace. "Can you NOT?"

"I can not!

* * *

The next morning began with an extra-large breakfast. While I ate, the television was giving commentary about finding six gang members in critical condition being hospitalized at Sun Wukong Hospital. I laughed at that, and laughed even harder at how each of them were convicted of crimes and how the proceedings would begin after they've recovered.

I tried to avoid Panty, and largely succeeded. She was way too flirty for her own good, and had a nasty habit of making me powerless to whatever whimsical thing she wanted to do. In my new outfit which consisted of a collared shirt and flexible athletic pants, I headed to the atrium to find Kakarot.

He waved at me, sporting his usual gi. Chi-Chi was nowhere to be found. She was fast asleep in Kakarot's guest room. According to him, they had a long night.

Snickering, I folded my arms. "Well Kakarot, show me how to do the Kiao-ken."

The young man assumed a fighting position. "Alright Nappa. So how King Kai taught me is like this, first you have to power up to your maximum, like this." I felt his power unleash fluidly, it was just as strong as when I fought him roughly a month past. I nodded, thinking that I could do that too.

"Next… concentrate on your fighting spirit, your heart, your power, and your muscles. The Kaio-ken is an integrated mind-body technique. With your mind, look upon your cells, muscles, and energy. You've powered up to your maximum, they can't hold any more of your energy. This is the Kaio-ken, to fill your already full muscles and cells even more. Denser, denser, denser, until…"

I watched intently, and saw Kakarot's energy turn crimson. His aura was crimson red, his body looked tighter, and if I were to touch him, I would feel burning heat. The boy continued talking. "Once you filled your already full body with energy, THIS happens, the Kaio-ken!" He stopped, and fell onto the ground, panting. "Normally, once you do it with double your energy you've got the basic gist down. When I was fighting Vegeta, I was putting triple and quadruple the amount of energy my body can handle in me! It was intense!" He laughed, I unfolded my arms. So that's how it works, huh.

"Let me give it a shot, Goku." I yelled out loud, powering myself to my maximum. Fill my cells and muscles with more energy? Fine then. I began to do that more and more, but nothing happened.

"You're just powering up, Nappa." He called, folding his arms. "When you can't power up anymore, concentrate. Uhm…" He looked thoughtful for a moment. "If your chest doesn't hurt while doing it you're doing it wrong!"

"WHAT?" I yelled out, but I soon focused. My body felt as though it couldn't handle any more energy. So now all I had to do is squeeze more energy in? I pushed more energy into my stomache, trying hard to fit more energy into my body. I felt dizzy, and my chest felt hot and tight. Kakarot's yells distracted me. "YOU'RE DOING IT! YOU'RE DOING IT!"

I gasped and fell over, coughing. I growled. "What the hell was that, Goku?"

He nodded a few times. "Yeah, that's what happened to me too. You used Kaio-ken, sort of."

I sat on my ass looking at the young man. "Sort of?"

He chuckled. "Well, like me at first, you only used Kaioken on your chest. So it looked like your chest was all red, but your arms, legs, and head were all still normal."

I blinked at him. "What?"

"Like this." Kakarot powered up again, and then used his Kaioken ability again. Only instead of looking like he was ingulfed in crimson, only his chest was crimson and the rest of his body was normal looking. I stared at his bizarre half transformation. I looked like that?

Kakarot grinned sheepishly and went back to normal. "It's funny. King Kai was only able to do that too. He said he was never able to master it like I did."

I clenched my teeth. "So how did you learn how to do it with your whole body?" I asked frustrated.

Kakarot chuckled again. "Practice! It took me two days to get it down, but with me training you, I bet you we could get it done today! Let's try again!"

I got up, still winded from the previous failed attempt. Whatever I did to myself had already exhausted me, but damned if I wasn't going to master this. This was what we needed if I wanted to achieve my goals.

* * *

Author's Note: It's a crime that Goku never taught any of his friends Kaio-ken.

Hope you enjoyed reading, cause I enjoyed writing. As always, send me any PMs and I'll get back to you and junk. Don't worry, my next update won't take nearly as long as this one did. Probably.


	6. Chapter 6

There I was, sweating buckets in nothing but my briefs in the atrium. Three days had passed since getting the panacea and recovering the sensation of my legs. The boy and I were hours into our lesson, he was trying to teach me his ability. Kakarrot had told me it took him two whole days to learn this damnable technique, and here I was, barely progressing.

His voice attempted to encourage me. "You almost had it that time, Nappa! Come on! You can do it!"

'I almost had it that time' fifty times ago. I've hit a god damned brick wall, you crappy excuse for a trainer.

On the initial day, I had successfully engulfed my torso and arms with that crimson aura. Maybe it was due not being used to having access to my legs that it took me a whole two days practicing to successfully engulf my legs in the crimson power. Let's not even mention the fingers and toes, it took several attempts to even cover them in crimson power.

My head was the problem. No matter what amount of focus I put into my head to execute the Kaio-Ken, it wouldn't take. It simply wouldn't. And after every attempt, it's become habit to fall on my ass, winded.

"Isn't it good enough?! I mean, I've got my arms, legs, and chest. Can't I just not have my head powered up too?" I asked, for what seemed to be the fourth time.

Kakarrot simply shook his head pityingly. "No, Nappa. I told you. If you don't get all of your body as one with your power, the effects aren't as good. You'll never be able to reach Vegeta or me with a half perfected technique."

He kept adding in those snide little remarks to provoke me into working harder. They worked in motivating me, but I wasn't getting anywhere! I snarled at him, "This isn't working!"

The boy sighed. "Maybe we should try having you do it just the head, then work down, yeah?"

That was a brilliant plan. Or, rather, it would be, if it hadn't already failed. As powerful as this guy was, he was a crappy teacher. Day turned to night, and we stopped training together to gorge on more of Mrs. Briefs and Chi-Chi's food.

Once Kakarrot and I had recovered from our injuries, Chi-Chi had returned to Capsule Coorperation and was taking up permanent residence in Kakarrot's room. The noise they made was intolerable, and these walls were supposed to be sound proof. Moving three doors down was the only way of getting a good night's sleep. Before then it was impossible.

The girl wasn't much of an intolerable harpy since Kakarrot's first time getting cash money from the doctor. She was rather pleasant to be around even. However, on the first night that she returned and she saw the second stack of money that Dr. Briefs had given him… It had been 4am that morning and being woken up by the surprised scream of Chi-Chi wasn't pleasant.

I pounded the wall separating our rooms.

"KEEP IT DOWN IN THERE YOU TWO," I roared at the top of my lungs.

Upon waking up, I had found a note that was slid into my room. An apology note with a little cartoon drawing of her. Kids these days.

At least she was a damned good cook. Ignoring her obvious assets, she prepared meat dishes that left me dying for more. Combined with the good doctor's wife, the both of us were completely stuffed at every meal time. This was the good life.

On the dawn of the fourth day, I approached Kakarrot in the atrium to begin our session. He waved at me excitedly. This was somewhat unusual, his demeanor was usually serious when we trained. I wondered what had riled the boy up.

"Hey Nappa! Alright, so we're gonna try to get you fully Kiao-Ken'd up today! And I figured out the best way to do it!" The boy held out a coin for me to observe. His expression hadn't changed, almost as if he wanted me to jump up and down with him in joy.

"What the hell am I looking at, Goku?" I said flatly. I wasn't in the mood for that kind of crap.

He chucked to himself and approached me. He quickly entered my personal space and, without asking permission, started to balance the coin on my nose. Had this been anyone else, save Vegeta, the poor fool who dared tread on my business would be dead. However, this was the same person who had promised to restore my legs and had succeeded.

How much could Kakarrot conceivable get away with, however? I'm not going to let the kid get ahead of himself.

"Oy," I growled in an annoyed tone. The boy got the hint and finished quickly, leaving me with what I could now read as a 500 zenni piece balancing between my eyes.

"Alright, sorry! It came to me last night. Maybe you're not able to focus your energy in your head because it's not used to it! So I was thinking, if you had something to focus into, like a concentration point, then maybe it could work!"

I snorted at the boy. This had to be the stupidest idea I've ever heard. What's worse is that he said all of that with the boyish, gleeful expression.

So of course I tried it. On planet Earth, ridiculousness seemed to trump logic and the whelp hasn't been wrong yet. My mind had adapted to the absurd occurrences and my instincts told me to just roll with it.

My head engulfed in crimson energy the third time I tried. I swore loudly in a weird mix of annoyance and triumph that I had done it. Later that day, I had successfully used the Kiao-Ken ability and maintained it completely, feeling the full effects of the pseudo transformation. It was unreal, as if the world was moving in slow motion. Just a few moments in that state, my energy reserves hit empty and I was snapped out of it. Feeling a bit light headed, falling over backwards and desperately trying to catch my breath, I grinned at Kakarrot as he applauded me.

I had the next few days to practice and master the technique. It took me a while, but eventually I was able to use it without a physical aid like the coin. This was good, as we both agreed that I wouldn't be able to just put a rock on my head in the middle of combat and ask the enemy to please wait while I got ready to turn them inside out. I mused if such a request would work on Frieza. Probably not.

We had gotten word from Korin that the beans would be ready within a day. Even more conveniently, the ship would be ready for us on that same day. So on the eve of our departure, Kakarrot, Chi-Chi, and I went to Fjosok's bar. Kakarrot had been helping me master the technique, and by our departure I had grasped the basics of it. The more energy you generate and concentrate into your body, the more supercharged you can get. With enough power and training, it would probably dwarf the oozaru transformation in terms of power increase. I wasn't quite there yet, however. It was Chi-Chi who suggested that as a celebration of me mastering the technique and as a farewell party, the three of us should get wasted.

She was growing on me.

Kakarrot wore his standard training gear day and night. Honestly, I was envious. While Panty had been kind to buy me stylish clothing that was both flexible and questionably fashionable, it wasn't my usual combat armor. It made me feel awkward, walking into the bar wearing clothing that wasn't truly showing me. Sporting a casual T-shirt and jeans, I kept up with Kakarrot and Chi-Chi, the latter of whom was wearing her usual outfit.

What I had forgotten was that the last time I had seen Fjosok, I was still wheelchair-bound.

His jaw dropped. "My friend! You can walk!" He gestured wildly at me. He did the same with Kakarrot. I grinned and nodded slyly, taking my usual stool with Kakarrot and Chi-Chi joining me.

I sighed before answering. "A lot of crap's been going on Fjosok. Magic, training, and soon I'm gonna be headin' out for a while." I winked at his bemused expression. "Can't leave without sayin' goodbye right?"

Fjosok set down his cleaning rag and the glass and folded his arms. "Magic? Leaving? Friend, you say many strange thing." He took a moment to consider and then began chuckling. "Is strange, but is fine. S'alright, s'alright. Fjosok is happy to see yer good now."

I chuckled with him. He took our orders and our night began. It was a casual drinking session and Chi-Chi made us swear to make sure the kid, Gohan, was up to his studies when we see him. Of course we would, I had said, only to make a mental note to only bring it up if he actually was doing it. Runts his age would be completely independent in saiyan society.

Hours into the night, there was a loud bang from the outside. Within seconds a very frightened and drunk patron came into the bar frantic, slurring his words incoherently. It was amusing enough, but Kakarrot and I were curious at what the cause of that outburst. Even funnier than watching the lightweights freak out was the fact that it was the cat, Korin, who was causing the ruckus. While Kakarrot waved Korin to our position, my mind tried to process why exactly the drunk was afraid of the cat.

Fjosok's quivering voice answered my question. "That there cat… is flying!?"

Come to think of it, we had been told not to use our strength or flight abilities. Given these fearful reactions, it was wise advice in order to live with these weaklings in peace and harmony. A low ranked minion of Frieza's army would be able to singlehandedly ravage this planet. Given the fact that the only worthy line of defense against Raditz had been the Namekian and Kakarrot, that meant that if we had sent him with a vial of saibamen, this planet would have been eaten alive. These earthling weaklings are all allowed to be ignorant and weak. All for the sake of peace. The thought sent me into a morose mood.

The master snapped at the bartender. "There's glass everywhere outside, I'm not going to cut up my feet." Grumbling, Korin descended and took a seat next to Kakarrot. "The beans are here," he said, handing him a little brown sack tied with a little white string. "We got a pretty nice haul, someone up there's looking out for you, Goku."

Kakarrot's eyes lit up as he took a peek inside the bag, trying to count them all. "Wow, thanks so much Korin, this'll be more than enough."

The cat didn't return the boy's excitement. "Whatever you do, don't waste them, Goku. Think of the others who are about to land on Namek." The cat made a grumbled annoyed sound. "I know how much you like the taste of those beans. Resist that temptation."

I tore my attention away from the two as Kakarrot was weakly defending himself as not a glutton. My mind wandered to the feasts that we once had on planet Vegeta. My old man, miserable as he was and as crappy a father as he was, could roast pretty damn well. Soon after I was assigned as Vegetas caretaker, I had to be the one preparing food for him, though at the point of my life I could hardly call myself a chef. The prince at that point was used to the finest chefs feeding him meals fit for royalty, of course I couldn't compare. Still, we feasted on whatever planet's food we could find. Beasts, lizards, sometimes even the inhabitants if we were desperate. Come to think of it, wasn't the last planet before we came to Earth where we ate the inhabitants? It felt like it was just yesterday…

Korin woke me from my thoughts with a poke of his cane. I jolted upwards and spun around to look down at him. A toothy grin welcomed me before he spoke. "Hey bud, I see you got your legs back. Good for you."

Sizing the cat up, he looked so small. Why, he'd be tiny if I were to stand up. I snorted. "Yeah, thanks."

The cat chortled at me. "You know, Yajirobe wasn't too keen on staying near you too long. He practically begged me to take him to the lookout to help me grow the beans."

"Oh yeah?" I had wondered where that fat guy was all this time.

"Yeah. Come to think of it, you're the first guy we've used the senzu beans on to heal such a permanent wound. Everything else like holes, broken bones, fatigue, the bean does the trick real quick. Pretty lucky that it actually worked, severed spinal cord and all."

Sputtering, I slammed down my glass in rage. "You mean you had no idea if it would work or not?! DO YOU TAKE ME FOR A GUINEA PIG?!"

Kakarrot and Chi-Chi both watched me chuckling nervously to themselves while Korin remained undaunted. Cackling playfully, he shrugged. "It all worked out in the end didn't it? Don't get your manshorts in a bunch, big guy."

Grumbling, I turned away from him. I wasn't going to let the miserable cat spoil the evening, especially with the voyage tomorrow.

Korin engaged the two youngsters in conversation. Feeling somewhat antisocial, I drank in silence, giving Fjosok short answers to his attempts of making small talk. I wasn't in the mood with that particular bombshell. What would have happened if the beans didn't heal me? Would the Earthlings have run out of options? No, they would have those Dragon Balls, and they could use the wish to have fixed me. I grumbled to myself at the thought. Would they have used a wish on me like that? These humans and Kakarrot were kind enough to heal me with some beans that they can grow, but would they use their wish to heal me, if they could have anything else in existence? Somehow, I doubt it. There's a limit to how charitable people could be, not even Kakarrot would use the wish for someone else's behalf, and much less someone he just met.

Perhaps, maybe much later down the line, we would be able to bring that long haired bastard back? Come to think of it, I don't even know what kind of cool down these Dragon Balls have. Would they be a one time thing?

I turned to Kakarrot, clearing my throat to catch his attention. The young boy's handsome gaze turned to face me. "Hey Goku, the Dragon Balls, can you tell me a little more about them?"

The boy started in surprise, while the cat laughed the hardest he had that night. Korin spoke before the boy, "That's my cue to leave. Have a safe trip Goku. Nappa, if your arm gets blown off or something, eat a bean and tell me if it regrows. Y'know, before the wound closes." I grunted in response, and at that, Korin left the bar.

Kakarrot thought about the subject matter for what seemed to take minutes. At last, he spoke to me with a wide smile on his face. Of course, I hadn't known anything about the Dragon Balls besides the fact that they would grant a wish. When Kuririn was telling Gohan and I about Kakarrot's adventures, he merely talked about the Dragon Balls in passing. The boy told me much more, about how he found about the true nature of the balls, how it would take a year for the balls to go from inert white boulders to their golden starred spheres. Bulma had created some sort of radar to track the balls, which made them criminally easy to find.

"So let me get this straight. Every year they reactivate, so you could make a wish every year without any repercussion as long as the Namekians are alive?"

The boy nodded at me dumbly, taking a sip of his sangria.

"And you could wish multiple people back to life, and even wish multiple people to be immortal? Really, there's no catch, just need to find the blasted things over and over for wishes? As long as it's within the dragon's power?"

Kakarrot put his glass aside, his hand on his cheek as he peered into my eyes thoughtfully. "Yeah, though we don't use them every year on the year."

"Why the hell not?" I slurred.

Chi-Chi answered for the boy as he fumbled with his words. "Nappa, reliance on the balls would lead us all to being complacent. We use the Dragon Balls for the good of the Earth, not for any kind of material gain." Her expression softened as she considered her words. "If we all just got what we wanted just by asking the magic dragon, then what would we be doing besides living lives of convenience and sloth?"

It took a moment to have those words sink in. She had a point, it would be stupidly boring if you won life by default just because you asked a lizard for cheat codes. Thinking about it seriously, it seemed that accomplishing things through hard work was much more rewarding than having it handed to you. However, with such a daunting goal of defeating Frieza, I wondered how Vegeta would manage it without the wish of immortality.

I chuckled in response, swaying a little in place. "That's surprisingly sober of you, Chi-Chi"

She huffed playfully, prompting Kakarrot to catch her as she fell onto him. "I'm not as much as a lightweight as you."

* * *

When we arrived back 'home', we made a dash to our beds. We had left the bar pretty wasted right before 3am hit. We gave our goodbyes to Fjosok, who requested that we come back to visit when we return. The moment my head made contact with my pillow, it was lights out.

It's pretty surprising I didn't have a hangover from that night. I was also the first awake. It must have been an hour long nap, but for some reason I was more hungry than tired. Rummaging through the fridge trying to find some kind of food, I heard the kitchen communicator ring out. Staring at the pink phone contraption I mimicked what I would see the maid doing with it when she wanted to answer it.

"Nappa, here."

From the other line some mild static sounded, then a shrill familiar female voice exploded from the receiver. "Nappa?! What the HELL are you doing answering my parent's phone?!"

Frowning at such disrespect, I scratched my ass before answering. "Everyone else is asleep. It's 4am. All you get is Nappa. What do you want?"

Her heavy breathing calmed down. "Okay look. We need backup NOW. This freaky planet's way too much for us to handle. Kuririn and Gohan left me alone in a cave while they're doing God knows what. I already called Roshi, but he's halfway around the world. You've got to tell Goku to get his butt over here NOW!"

Interested, I pressed on. "Those two shrimps are pretty tough. You've already got a half saiyan warrior. Tell me what you're dealing with, is it a blood bath?"

"Not yet it isn't." I froze at the tone of her icy voice. "Vegeta's here, and Kuririn says he's stronger than ever. Thankfully though, he doesn't know we're here yet…"

My eyes fluttered. Whether if it was from lack of sleep or interest is beyond me. With Kakarrot with me and that new technique, I'll be able to see him again sooner than I expected. "Oh, that sounds bad. We'll be right over then." I made a motion to hang up the phone.

"Wait, that's not all! Kuririn and Gohan also said there's a guy much stronger than Vegeta here too!"

There's no way they could possibly be that unlucky. I grimaced, bracing for the worst. "How much is 'much stronger'?"

Her voice became increasingly frantic. "By much, Kuririn says it makes Vegeta look like a little baby! Get us the hell out of here!"

I roared into the phone. "Did you catch the guy's name? Is it Frieza?"

The shrill voice squealed into my ear. "Like hell we're going to ask his name! His goons broke our ship for no God damn reason then tried to kill us! They even have some Dragon Balls!"

I sighed, pretending to keep my cool. "I'll pass the message on. Anything else?" She gave me more messages to pass onto the good doctor, then we hung up. I wrote down both messages and left them on the kitchen counter.

Frieza.

If our power levels were enough to fill a lake, then Frieza's power was enough to fill the vast oceans of planet Vegeta. That's not mentioning the two patsies that hung around Frieza, Dodoria and Zarbon, both of which would be more than a match for the prince. Vegeta was there too, who wouldn't be particularly friendly to anyone.

I growled lowly to myself. To go to Namek now would be suicide. It would take several miracles in a row to get anything done on a planet when Frieza was there personally. Why the hell was the tyrant even there? Frieza never personally went to planets for purging or sale unless it was to show a demonstration of power. Wait. She said that he had some Dragon Balls… Damn my tired brain for not registering that detail sooner. I pocketed the messages and marched to Kakarrot's room.

Opening his door, I found him fast asleep. He was naked, sharing a bed with his woman. Reaching out to shake him awake, I hesitated. I learned my lesson by waking him up the conventional way last time; it earned me a head-butt.

I left the room none too quietly and searched for an appropriate room for my idea. There was a master bedroom unoccupied and had a large bathtub; it was perfect. I filled the bathtub to the top with freezing cold water. Once it was full, I scooped the young saiyan up. I was prepared for him to be fully naked, and I wasn't disappointed. The whelp didn't bother putting on pajamas. So, carrying him bridal style, I took him to the bathroom where the filled tub was and threw him in.

His yells were nostalgic. "Wha?! WHA?! Where am I?! Wha?!"

I shook away my fond memories of family. "Kakarrot, I got a call from Bulma."

The boy's face sobered up pretty quickly. "You did? What's the story?"

Normally, being the bearer of bad news wasn't difficult. This time was different. "Your friends landed on Namek, but there's a problem."

"What is it?"

Standing up, I shrugged at him. "Not only is Vegeta there, stronger than ever, but Frieza's probably also there. The ship was destroyed by some of Frieza's men, so your pals are effectively stranded. They managed to avoid being detected though, so that's good."

The boy got to his feet inside the tub, splashing water all over the place. "Vegeta's there? How did he recover so fast? And who's this Frieza?"

The mood chilled even colder than the ice water I threw him in. I laughed darkly. "Frieza's the emperor of the known universe and the strongest entity in existence. It looks like he's after the Dragon Balls, as they have some."

Kakarrot looked at me dumbly, trying to process what I've said. "Strongest in the universe? He's after the Dragon Balls too?"

Nodding, I continued. "Sounds like it, and he's got enough power- in his finger to wipe out a solar system." I paused for a moment at the boy's expression. It was one of excitement and dread. "I'm not exaggerating either, if any one of us got into a fight with him, it'd be the equivalent of you taking on Fjosok in a fight."

His eyes practically lit up. "Wow… I can't believe there's someone out there even stronger than Vegeta… And I'm going to get to meet him!"

"What in the!?" I choked on my own spit, coughing like mad. After a few seconds, I stared him dead in the eyes. "I did neglect to mention he's pure evil? He's a tyrant, and he'll annihilate anyone who gets in his way. The reason Vegeta and I came to Earth for the Dragon Balls was to wish for immortality so that we'd be able to take him out."

He boy tilted his head in confusion. "So… you were actually fighting for a cause? Why'd you blow up a city then?"

Oh man, I did destroy a city, didn't I? All for a 'warm greeting', too. Not to mention that we were originally going to sell this dustball to the highest bidder. How to get out of this one…

Thankfully the boy changed the subject. "Forget it. There's no time to waste, we have to get to Namek as soon as possible; my friends are in danger!"

"I'm not going" I said, flatly.

Kakarrot regarded me in a strange manner. Finally he responded, "Didn't you just say your boss is kind of a jerk? Don't you want to punch him in the face?"

Frowning, I answered him. "There's a lot of things we'd all want to do to him, but-"

"And he's really strong, yeah?"

Bemused, I nodded. Yes, Freiza was 'really strong'.

The boy straightened up, as if he was talking to himself more than me. "Doesn't it get you excited to be able to fight someone like that? It's how I felt fighting Vegeta, I didn't know if I could beat him, but the thrill of the fight just made me all the more excited!"

The boy was a saiyan. That passion for fighting and the high we all got when fighting a worthy opponent or attempting to overcome a massive obstacle. These things were familiar to me and I could relate to Kakarrot, but this was different.

"Vegeta's an elite saiyan, Kakarrot. As strong as he is, he's on our level. Frieza is too strong, we can't win."

Kakarrot frowned at me. "Speak for yourself. I'm itching to see Vegeta again, and this Frieza guy sounds awesome. If I can train hard enough to beat him, then…"

He looked so sure of himself. The cocky brat didn't know what he was getting into. "What if you die, Kakarrot? He'd kill you."

The young man shrugged. "It would have been worth it then, to fight the strongest being in the entire universe." There was a dreamlike tone in his voice. "Wouldn't it be amazing to go up against something like that?"

Of course it would be, but the dying part is what's holding me back. He read the expression on my face, and continued, "Either way, I'm going. It'd be better to go there and try to help my friends. It'd be a lot better than just hiding here on Earth." He said that last part almost as if it was a jab at me. Was it a jab at me? He left the bathtub and walked past me, leaving me staring at the tile behind him dumbly.

Hiding on Earth? How dare that boy talk to me in that manner?! His words weren't wrong however, what would I be doing here besides hiding like a coward?

The cold realization of my cowardice gripped me. Was Vegeta right in attempting to kill me? Had our years of servitude under Frieza made us weak? Who am I kidding? It wasn't us who became weak, it was just me. Vegeta was the pride of the Saiyan race, an exceptionally skilled fighter with a backbone that wouldn't break no matter how hard Frieza tried to subjugate him. Kakarrot, a low class whelp sent to this weak planet and rising to match Vegeta. A man who doesn't cower from such an imposing challenge like Frieza. Kakarrot was a true warrior.

And now here I am, a sniveling boy compared to the men willing to share a battlefield occupied by Frieza. What would my ancestors say to this disgrace? What would my father say? My father, who died in a great battle. My father, who when recovered, his face was etched not in the shape of a man about to die, but was in the shape of someone who was having the time of his life.

A familiar, low, gruff voice echoed in my head, "Little bitch."

Ah, thank you father.

I raced to catch up to Kakarrot. The man, still stark naked, about to enter his room. "Wait!"

He turned around, a neutral expression on his face. It was one with some sort of expectation. He waited for me.

Heaving a loud sigh, I looked him in the eye. "Take me with you."

A wild grin spread across his face. He didn't need to say anything, and put his right arm out in front of me. I grabbed his arm, he grabbed mine.

It's at that moment that I truly regarded him as a comrade.

* * *

We watched the doctor tinker with the ship late into the night. The fully dressed Goku shouted to catch the doctor's attention, "Dr. Briefs! We need to get to Namek as fast as we can, is it ready now?!"

Dr. Briefs rubbed his eyes while yawning. "Just about, the fuel's being filled as we speak. Then I just punch in the coordinates and you two'll be able to launch." He winked tiredly at both of us. The boy groaned and sat on the grass next to the ship.

I turned to go back inside the building. "I'm gonna go pack some clothes or something. I'll be right back."

The young man nodded and began playing with the strands of grass. I chuckled, he wasn't the patient type.

* * *

A familiar old figure greeted me upon entering the common rooms. Old man Roshi had been peeping inside of Kakarrot's room. The old codger was in his black suit, black hat, and sunglasses. However, at the moment I found him he was lifting his glasses up to get a view at whatever was inside. I coughed loudly to grab his attention. "Oh! Nappa! Didn't see you there! Have you seen Goku?" His toothy grin was beaming from ear to ear. I wondered if I covered up Chi-Chi after taking the boy.

I vaguely remembered Bulma telling me she called him first, but he was far away so she tried calling here afterwards. "Yeah, he's near the ship." The chuckling old man slowly moved around me to make his way there. I continued, "Uh, the girl called here too, and I passed the message to Goku. So he knows what's going on."

Roshi's jaw dropped. "What? Well then why am I even here?!" He scratched the back of his neck while staring at the ceiling. "Oh well, this wasn't a complete flop, I might as well go say hello then before you two blast off."

I nodded, making my way to my bedroom.

Turning the knob to my door, I was just about to push the door open when the old man's voice stopped me. With his back turned to me, he asked, "Do you know what's waiting in Namek?" He wasn't asking me if Bulma relayed the message. From the tone of his voice, he was seeking answers the girl possibly didn't have that I might.

"If the girl mentioned a power greater than Vegeta, that's Frieza. He's on another level entirely." I craned my neck to look at him. "Things aren't looking good for us."

The old man laughed lowly. "I understand. You won't find me on a ship ready to go into Namek anytime soon." He continued walking to the exit to meet Goku.

Leaning on my door, I folded my arms, I yelled back at him. "Kuririn told me the stories, old man, the boy has talent. What do you think about all this?" It was my turn. I was genuinely curious as to what this seasoned veteran had to say.

To my remark, the old man stopped walking. He turned around, taking his glasses off to see me. He was smiling, "Nappa m'boy, I can't tell you how many times I thought Goku was done for. Yet, he manages to prevail every time." He shook his head before continuing, "Even now, after hearing what Bulma and you told me, I doubt he'd be able to match what's likely the greatest challenge of his life. Still, he's the very essence of a great warrior. Someone like this Frieza is just what the boy's looking for." Pocketing his glasses, he turned around and made his way towards the ship. "Even dying against his brother was just a stepping stone to greater power. Who knows? Maybe he'll surprise us again."

While it may be true that a low class saiyan warrior did somehow climb the ranks to defeat the Prince of all Saiyans in his powerful oozaru form, I doubted he'd find the strength to thwart Frieza. The more I thought about it however, the more I realized how much the boys grown and how absurd his growth was. According to Kuririn, at one point Kakarrot was weaker than Roshi. Given how at the boy's strength now he would tear Roshi apart like tissue paper. Not to mention just a year ago, Kakarrot was weaker than his older brother. That power increase, if he could do that again, it might just be possible for him to defeat Frieza.

Better yet, if the boy's theory about gravity training and this Kaio Ken technique holds true, then there's a possibility that I would be able to defeat Frieza. If he can do it, shouldn't I, a super elite, be able to as well?

The price of failure would be death, and the gamble was insane enough as it is. However, stirred by the young hero and his old master, it would be unlike me to not go. Even if I were to die to Frieza, it would be a death I could brag about to my ancestors. I had died not as a sniveling pig, but as a warrior fighting against an impossible enemy.

Grinning, I entered my room and packed my things. I was really going to do this. While this planet's fashion sense was gross to my eyes, I made sure to pick the outfits that were easy to move in. The appearance of these absurd outfits were a secondary. If I was going to die, I was not going to die in hot pink sports pants. I was really going to do this. I wiped my brow. Just filtering through these clothes were taking up a lot of time. Seconds turned to minutes turned to hours, but at last I had assembled some garments that were flexible and not shameful.

Capsuling the garments and pocketing it, I rushed back out to the ship. The sun was already up. Roshi and Goku were chatting. I was about to join them when our attention was stolen by the good doctor emerging from the ship. "Good news folks, the ship is entirely ready now. As I said, should take you about a week to get there. More or less. Probably less."

Goku got up first, his eyes lit up. "Wow, thanks a lot doc!" I nodded at Dr. Briefs.

He made a tired gesture at both of us. "Just hit the big red button and you'll be off. If anyone else needs me, I'll be asleep for about a week. Oh, and don't need me. Oh, Roshi! What are you doing there?"

The two elderly men walked and talked together while Goku hopped into the ship. "Come on Nappa! What're you waiting for?"

Nothing, I guess. I followed the boy. He pressed the big red button and the hatch closed. Within a minute we were blasting off to Namek.

* * *

Goku's attention went directly to the gravity simulator. He was a fighter all right. To obtain the gains the runt did to face off against Vegeta, he had to be.

"Just a sec, Goku. Let's explore this place first," I said while checking out the chamber. It wasn't what I was expecting. There was this little arena next to the controls, and a ladder going down. I hopped down the ladder with the boy following me.

Holy, he wasn't joking about having five refrigerators full of food. Just look at all this meat! We grinned, laughing mischievously together knowing full well we were going to eat damn well on our journey to Namek.

To Namek, where we'd probably die glorious deaths.

I rummaged around the less important places. There was a dual bath and dual beds, perfect for the two of us. Once Goku finished looking around, he hovered back to the first floor. I assumed he was messing with the Gravity Machine. I threw my capsule containing my clothes onto my bed and quickly followed him. I found the young warrior musing to himself how high he should set it. It seems that he decided on a number and adjusted it.

The machine buzzed to life, Goku grinned. The familiar sensation of being pressed downwards occurred. I checked the number on the screen, it was set to 20G. It seems as though he thought that 25G would be too much to start with.

The method and rules of our training together were established while Kakarrot was teaching me how to do the Kaio-ken. We would train under the gravity without relying on the technique so that we would become stronger while using the technique. The idea sounded amazing, but realistically, could we manage through this training together like this? At that time, I withheld my doubts, simply going along with it.

It turned out to be a lot easier than I had thought. For several hours, we did push-ups together, agility training together, and all sorts of things to quickly get used to the gravity. The more intense things we did, the less the gravity affected us. By the time we reached the tenth hour, we were completely used to 20G.

Goku cracked his neck, gleeful at the quick progress. "Alright! That didn't take long at all! Back over in King Kai's planet, I guess I must have gotten used to the concept of gravity training." He raised an eyebrow at me, while I punched in the air as fast as I could. He continued, "What about you?"

"Kid, Planet Vegeta had gravity on par with or even tougher than your 'King Kai's planet'. It felt light as a feather when I landed." He grinned approvingly at me.

"Alright, let's crank this baby up to 30G then!"

The boy made a motion to the controls when he suddenly stopped. He looked confused for a moment, then gleeful. "King Kai! Yes it's me, but where are you? In space?"

I watched him bemused, him listening to the voices in his head. I tried to help him, but he shooed me away, insisting he was talking to someone.

"No. No, I was just talking to Nappa. You don't know what's going on in Namek, King Kai?"

Shrugging, I continued my exercises while the boy continued his one way phone call. I'd give him thirty minutes before I slapped him silly.

"Guests? So?"

"Haha! That's great! They're all with you!"

"Hey Yamcha! Oh, there's four of you? Piccolo too? Wait, Chiaotzu too?! Didn't he blow himself up?"

"…Wow that's great! A new body huh, that's amazing."

"Haha! I know! I'm on a spaceship training with Nappa on the way to Namek! The gravity here is even greater than his planet."

"Yeah, Nappa."

"It's a long story, but he's on our side now!"

The boy gave me a thumbs up while chatting to himself. I half ignored him.

"That's mean, Yamcha, no."

"Yeah, I need to finish my training in…"

Goku glanced at me expectantly. I craned my neck to see the ETA monitor on the ship. It read five and a half days to estimated arrival. I thought the doctor said it'd be about a week. He did say probably less, though.

"Five and a half days, Goku."

"Five and a half days, so I need to finish my training then."

"While I was in the hospital, Kuririn, Gohan and Bulma went to Namek to get the Dragon Balls. But Vegeta's there too! He hasn't found them yet, but it's only a matter of time… damn it!"

"There's another thing… there's this guy who's stronger than Vegeta by a lot! Nappa says it might be this jackass named Frieza."

"No, we're not exactly sure, call it a hunch."

"Okay, I'll wait."

"Oh, so it is him."

The boy gave me another thumbs up. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, King Kai. Nappa let me know what I was up against. I still want to meet him, and beat him."

"Wow, that sounds amazing. No joke?"

"Sorry King Kai, I've made up my mind. But thanks!"

He shook his head like a dog getting something off of his face.

I shrugged at him. "You done?"

He grinned at me. "Yep! How about we turn this thing to fifty?"

* * *

Two days later we were enduring 50G of gravity. It was painful, but we soildered through it. Tempting as it was to activate the Kaio-Ken ability, it wouldn't be as beneficial. According to the theory, the stronger we get without Kiao-Ken, the more intense the ability became.

We sparred in this gravity, careful not to inflict any damage on the ship itself. All our training would be thrown out the window if we imploded the ship. The good doctor's suggestion of music and coffee turned out to be a major boon, as we were on our tenth cup of coffee at this point and we had some music by 'Disturbed' playing in the background on loop.

"Why that band?" The boy had questioned me, obviously not liking the tune. "I don't like it, even if it does get me a little pumped."

I had a huge bite of a turkey leg in my mouth that I had to swallow to answer his question. "Briefs said it was 'doctor's orders'. He said if we were going to train hard, we would have to have music play by this Disturbed. He said if we listened to music not played by Distrubed, then our training session was going to suck."

The boy had pointed to the playlist. "What about this?"

I looked over his shoulder, and then shrugged. "He said that if we wanted to be fancy and have other stuff play, we would realistically have to have two Disturbed songs just to cover it up." I handed him a cut of steak. He nibbled on it and once we were done with our snacks, we went back to training.

We did train until we both collapsed at the same time. Maybe it was our recovery from near death, but we managed to handle the 50Gs with relative ease.

The coffee kept us awake, but our energy was depleted completely. I groaned, forcing myself to my feet under the immense pressure.

"Goku, how many beans do we have?"

The boy took the beans out of his gi pocket and counted them. "Not counting the ones Korin gave us to recover and the two we ate a day ago, we have eight left."

* * *

Obviously, when you jump from 20G to 50G, the next step is the maximum. 100G. This is where our bodies were really pushed to the limit. I lamented the waste of the first two beans so we didn't have to sleep, because if ever, we needed those now. The burden was too much just to move, but we managed.

The next day, when I came critically close to whiting out from a bad fall, Goku fed me another bean. Seven left.

Later on that same day, Goku hit himself with several blasts as an endurance test and can't feel anything below his neck. I fed him a bean that he couldn't feed himself. Six left.

The counter read two more days. At this point, my training with the 100G gravity was showing progress. I could dash, run, and fight. However, it wasn't easy. Goku and I spent the first half of this day sparring with each other as we did with the 50G. I got several good shots in, and he managed to get me enough where I felt his blows more than the gravity. Our hellish fifth day of training was radical, and by the end of our fight, I was at my limit. If left alone like this, I would probably die. Goku was worse off.

"Gimme a senzu bean, Goku."

"Don't you have them?" he asked, in a strained voice.

My stomache lurched. I had thrown them downstairs to discourage us from using them.

"Uh… I think they're downstairs."

The boy let out a shocked yelp. "What?! But… oh no. I can't move…"

I laughed darkly. "Race you to the beans. Loser gets no dinner tonight?"

The boy took me up on that wordlessly. If we were being viewed, it would appear very bizzare. Two grown, beaten and bruised men rolling and worming their way to the stairs as fast as they could. I ceased the useless museing and caught the ladder downstairs. The gravity spread to down there, so I climbed the ladder gingerly, my thighs and arm muscles screaming.

Goku jumped down, landing on me, causing me to crash hard against the metal ladder and landed on top of me. We landed hard against the floor, the pouch visible to me. That familiar broken back feeling screamed at me, but I could wiggle my toes this time around. So it wasn't like last time, but still shitty.

I watched Goku reach my bed and grab it, tossing one to me and feeding one to himself. We paused while the restorative abilities of the bean took hold of us. Then, simultaneously, we got up. The 100G barely phased us now.

We spent the rest of the time sparring against each other. We agreed to not overexert ourselves just in case the gravity claims us again, but it didn't. Surprising to me, I barely felt it, and judging from Goku's movements, neither did he. Both of us stopped once the timer read a day until we arrived.

I stretched, looking at the counter. "What now?"

The boy pat me on the back. "Now, we rest. I think we mastered this gravity now, and it can't go any higher…"

Agreeing, I watched him set the gravity back to 1G.

The machine buzzed again, signifying the return of normal pressure.

It was like night and day! I felt much lighter than I was back on Earth. On the contrary, this was like I was a feather! I watched the boy float, making flapping motions like he was a bird.

"What an ugly bird!" I jeered.

He giggled and zipped around the floor. I felt compelled to join him, so I did. Not even on Earth was I able to achieve these kinds of speeds. It was like we were traveling at the speed of light! This was incredible!

Maybe we could defeat Frieza like this after all! Especially considering we had the Kaio-Ken on our side!

Goku was eyeing his palms closely. I tore myself from my thoughts to regard him, and he glanced at me with a huge grin. "I bet I could use Kaio-Ken 10x!"

He had mentioned that in the training. The stronger we were, the more we could concentrate our energy. Now that he was this strong, even stronger than Vegeta was on Earth, he was saying that we could magnify it ten times. How exciting, we could definitely beat Frieza now!

Attempting to try it, he stopped me. "Woah now, Nappa. Save it for Namek. Let's use this last day to rest."

I agreed. It would be a waste of energy, not to mention I would be exhausted after doing it. Walking over to the stereo system, I turned off Disturbed song playing. Goku blinked. "Aw, I liked that song."

"It grew on you too, huh?"

* * *

The doctor had an odd idea of accommodations. As I had noted before, we had two bathtubs, five refrigerators, and two sets of beds. What I hadn't found odd before was that these two tubs were side by side. Not that I minded, but part of me wondered if the doctor installed these under sleep deprivation. This was hardly a bathroom. So naturally, we took baths together, each of us in our tub.

Goku had a dreamy expression on his face. "This is great," he muttered.

The boy had a bubble bath that was overflowing the damn tub. I was washing myself with a loufa the doctor had left us. I grinned at him. He probably had no idea how similar his tastes were to Raditz. Maybe, perhaps in a few years, we'd revive that long haired bastard. By that time, who knows who would be the older brother?

After our mutually naked baths, we polished off the third refrigerator. The doctor knew us too well, packing so much damn meat and fish into these things. We had checked all the contents of each one, they were all meat with small amounts of grains if we felt like it.

We didn't feel like it.

Goku convinced me to not touch the last two fridges, saying that we were going to use this same ship to bring back our friends. So, it would be logical to have food for a return trip. That was sensible enough, and I should have thought about that.

Well-fed and clean, we both headed to the beds. This would be our first experience with sleep after five grueling, caffeinated days of training.

We slept side by side, a bed next to each other. Our alarm was set to go off when we were about to land. Then we'd be on Namek and we'd see if our training was really worth it.

Goku fell asleep before I did, practically passing out when his head touched the pillow. He slept-talk. Among other non-important things he muttered in his sleep, the boy was telling his friends to wait for him, he'd be right there.

I couldn't help but pity him. Six days was a long time, we didn't know if Vegeta or Frieza found Kuririn, Bulma, or his son. Knowing Vegeta, I knew exactly what would be the prince's first impulse once he found them.

Vegeta…

Was it the caffeine that clouded my mind? I had almost forgotten Vegeta as a matter completely. Perhaps was it the intensity of the training? No, inside I know it was some sort of defense mechanism that prevented me of thinking about the prince, even before we took off. But now, just a day away from the planet, the unconsidered matter presented itself. Every second on that planet meant another second Frieza had a chance of finding Vegeta by scouter. If only the prince knew how to control energy like the Earthlings had, then he'd have better chances of evading them.

Without a corpse, it would be foolish to think him dead. The prince was every bit as resourceful as I am and more. If anyone would stay alive, it would be Vegeta.

I heaved a heavy sigh. The main question was, once I saw him would he be my ally? Or would he be my foe?

I furiously fought back tears. I would not cry. There is no room for petty emotions like this in a time of war. I'd be stepping into a warzone soon, and shit like that is what lead better saiyans than me to their deaths. Vegeta is a saiyan, and we had a score to settle.

Whatever may have happened in our past, I must not forget the present.

Goku was my ally. He was the guy who helped me recover from paralysis and helped me gain this strength. We drank together, made money together, and fought together.

Vegeta tried to kill me in cold blood and it's only because of these earthlings that I live. Vegeta, who I partnered up with since he was just a whelp. Vegeta, who surpassed me in strength right as he hit his adolescence. Vegeta, who fought with me side by side conquering planets under Frieza's orders. Comrades in war under a tyrant we both hated. Vegeta, who was like a son to me…

The prince obviously did not reciprocate these feelings; he did not view me as a father figure. I knew that full well. We were not equals, he was my prince and I was his loyal subject. Maybe he even viewed me as a burden. Obviously killing me wouldn't have been a thought if I wasn't a burden.

He tried to kill me. That's what matters now, nothing else.

With that laid out in front of me, I would have to be prepared for anything. If Vegeta joins us, he would be my comrade. If he tries to go against us…

A tear escaped my eye. What followed that tear was multitudes of liquid coming from my eyes. I didn't bother trying to wipe them away or stopping them. If Vegeta tries to kill us, then I'd have to be ready to kill him. I cursed my own weakness, and once my tears dried up, I fell asleep.

* * *

Author's Note: Anyone wanna bet on who's going to die next chapter?


	7. Chapter 7

The alarm blared it's extremely loud and obnoxious tune. When I woke up, Goku was standing in front of the exit. Using my tail to turn off the alarm, I began the process of getting dressed. Some consideration was needed in picking out today's outfit. After all, it would be what I would be wearing for my greatest triumph or my death. Unfortunately, Earth fashion didn't really suit me. Shorts that went past my knees and a T shirt with my name on it, these were the least offensive clothes in my wardrobe.

I looked like an assclown.

After getting dressed, we would arrive on Namek in five minutes. I stood next to Goku, it seemed as if he was boring a hole into that door.

Somehow, despite the fact the greatest obstacle we would ever face would be just behind that door, I wasn't afraid. I had a mixture of feelings. Dread to find out the situation on the planet. Hope against hope to find that the prince was well. Excitement to settle the score with Frieza once and for all. I glanced at the boy standing by my side. He felt it too. Maybe not the exact same feelings as I did, but it was close enough. We both felt the high stakes, but we relished the challenge nonetheless.

Once the time was up and the door opened revealing the planet, we didn't hesitate and charged out of the ship. It felt just as light here as it did in the ship and Earth, and it was overwhelmingly green.

I could tell Goku was scanning for energy levels given his expression. I quickly followed his example.

Dear God, it was worse than I thought. Frieza's energy was massive. Not only that, there were a group of large energies among flickering weak energies. Dodoria and Zarbon? The three flickering weak energies, one was familiar. Kuririn? Oh hell, then the other two with him must be the girl and the runt. We had four beans left, so as long as they didn't die… But more importantly, who the hell was the second most powerful signal away from everyone? It couldn't be… Vegeta? It was the only strength that wasn't obviously Frieza that was slightly intimidating. This new energy sensing wasn't as specific as I wanted it to be when I couldn't yet put faces to energy signals.

While I was thinking to myself rapidly, the boy started blasting off to the group with the dwindling powers. I swore loudly to myself. In terms of pressing priorities, the dying energy levels took precedence. With that, we blasted off together at full speed.

Holy hell, we were going fast! Never would I have dreamed that this speed would be mine. Within seconds we landed in the middle between the powers that we had sensed, and I scanned the area with my eyes.

* * *

What the hell was going on here?

The boy and Kuririn were down for the count, as I had felt. What I didn't expect was the third energy was actually my prince. His shock of seeing me lasted for a few seconds, then immediately transformed into a dark smile. I wondered what was going through his head. I turned my attention to who I thought were Frieza's minions, Zarbon and Dodoria. Again I had been wrong, and instead it was three out of five members of the Ginyu Force.

Compared to Kakarrot while we trained, they were nothing. I had trouble wrapping my head around the fact that the most elite team of fighters under Frieza were so weak. It was certainly an interesting turn of events. Not to mention, what better warm up for a battle with Frieza than his most powerful team?

I could feel Vegeta's gaze on me. Something told me not to look back at him just yet, and instead to concentrate on the earth dwellers. Goku was feeding the beans to Gohan and Kuririn, while Recoome shouted at him in annoyance. I folded my arms and confronted the giant red headed man.

"Calm down, Recoome." I eyed him up and down, suddenly taking in the absurdity of his appearance. The hell happened to him? "You look terrible," I said with a hint of disgust.

The giant glared at me. He put his hands on his hips. "Nappa? The big muscled weakling telling me to calm down? That's rich." He smirked snidely at me. "I may look like a mess, but I'd rather look like this than put on whatever the hell you're wearing."

I laughed mockingly at him. "You have shit taste." He growled at me lowly while Goku did fed his beans to the others behind me. I shrugged at Recoome. "Give us a sec, will you?"

Recoome hesitated, as if considering the request. At last, he nodded, but then pointed a finger in the air. "Only if we do one last flexing contest, for old times sake. We can start after… er, em…" He glanced at the three behind me. The boy and Kuririn had picked themselves up and were talking excitedly to Goku. "Whatever the hell that guy is doing. Hey, you pick them back up and I'll knock them back down." I heard the other two goons behind him laugh. Funny was it?

"Yeah, sure." I took a glance at Vegeta. He was watching me and the other group, chuckling to himself. I couldn't help but inwardly smile. He was safe! There's just one last obstacle that I would have to get around, but it would have to wait just a moment longer. Wait for me, prince.

I quickly went to Goku and the others. They had become quiet, and Goku was touching Kuririn's head with his eyes closed. Bizarre human greetings.

Goku grinned at the short human. "I see, I know everything now. Hmm." He shot me a thoughtful look.

Kuririn gulped. "How the hell do you know that? Did you just read my mind?"

He did what now?

The young saiyan nodded dismissively at his friend and turned to me. There were many thing about Earth that I didn't understand and I didn't want to understand. The fatigue of completely new things to get used to like feeling energy levels and having visual communications wore on me. Despite all that and against my better judgement, curiosity took over. I had to know. "How the hell did you manage that?"

He considered me for a moment. "I just felt like I could do it. You try reading his mind." He gestured at Kuririn, who gave a wave at me. I waved back awkwardly. So, I put my hand on his head and tried to probe his mind.

Nothing.

I closed my eyes, trying to do the same as Goku.

Something… Kuririn's clammy bald head seemed like it was going to give me something…

No, nothing.

Taking my hand off of Kuririn, I shot Goku a dirty look. He laughed.

"Sorry, sorry, we'll fill you in later," He said sheepishly.

The four of us glanced at Vegeta. There wasn't any more stalling, I had to talk to him. I wanted to, but a certain dread gripped me. Considering he hadn't outright attacked, it looked good for us. Not that in his state he would even be able to attack us. But I don't think I would be able to handle being rejected by the prince again. I held out my hand out to Goku, who handed me a bean wordlessly. Ignoring his two friends' objection and taking a deep breath, I walked towards the prince.

* * *

The prince was in bad shape. Getting closer to him and being able to truly feel how low his energy was from his full, it was only now that I could appreciate just how roughed up he was. We had arrived just in the nick of time. A few more minutes and they'd all be dead. Vegeta…

Vegeta had been chuckling softly before, but now it was loud enough for me to hear the mocking undertones. I couldn't help but wince.

"Well, well, well. I didn't expect to ever see you again, Nappa," the prince chortled. "And you even brought the race-traitor Kakarrot with you, how interesting."

I didn't see Goku as a race traitor anymore, did I?

The prince was staring at me dead in the eyes, a defiant grin on his face. "So you're in bed with the humans now, are you? What a joke, a proud saiyan warrior standing in arms with such a weak species. Not that I have any room to talk. At the very least they managed to fix what they did to you." He sneered at me, obviously referring to my inability to walk.

He cast me aside and tried to incinerate me. Of course, the prince thought I would never fight again. My chest hurt thinking about it.

"Look at you now, Nappa. You must have gotten a boost from that beating, I presume?" He eyed me up and down quickly, pausing at my tail. "You even managed to keep your tail, that's good."

Vegeta sighed and stopped laughing, wincing in pain. He was really damaged, critically so. I fiddled with the bean in my fingers. I couldn't muster a voice to respond to him at all. My throat was so, so dry. He gave me a wicked grin, "Well, now that you're here, we might as well execute our plan to overthrow Frieza as intended. What do you say?"

He was taking me back.

Prince Vegeta was welcoming me back into his life and team after discarding me. He wanted me back.

The landscape went in and out from my vision. My heart pounded furiously against my chest. It was happening. It was really happening.

"Well?!"

This was it.

Planet Vegeta didn't have any poets and from the sparce Earth literature that I've read, there wasn't anyone who could put down in words what I felt at that moment. I picked the boy up and squeezed, letting out a loud, primal yell as tears flooded through my eyes. The noises of protest that he made fell on deaf ears. At last, we had been reunited.

"Let go, you fool!"

He must have said that tens of times. Hundreds of times. I didn't let go. I truly did not appreciate what I had lost until it was completely gone. Vegeta, not only my comrade but someone I considered family, was back. The wave of emotions that I felt with each mighty squeeze were intense. In retrospect, I should have given Vegeta the bean before I did this, as I may have broken one or two more bones.

Eventually, I plopped him down and fed him the bean Goku had given me. He chewed on it in bewilderment after asking me what the hell it was. His expression quickly became an advanced state of bemusement as I felt his power return to him. I gave him a grin, he shoved me aside, annoyed and most definitely embarrassed. An unusual sound filled my ears. It sounded like hands clapping, I turned around to see where it was coming from.

Goku, Kuririn and Gohan were clapping. Hell, Recoome and Burter even joined in applauding. I wiped my face furiously. They were clapping from that display? Even some members of the Ginyu Force joined in?! How mortifying.

* * *

After the applause ended, Recoome folded his arms in amusement. "Are you all done? Can we continue where we left off?"

I lead Vegeta over to our group of fighters, completely ignoring Recoome. Recoome grumbled to himself in annoyance. Goku was already eyeing the other Ginyu members with excitement. I patted the spirited boy on the back. "I think I'll be taking Recoome."

He nodded, "Then I'll take on the other two."

I shrugged in response. He certainly was eager to take on two at once, and I guessed I should let him. He didn't seem to give that much of a crap about being reunited with his kid or best friend. I left the group to meet Recoome who gave me a wild grin.

He grunted and pumped his arms, initiating the flexing contest. "Who's the orange clad idiot?"

"Saiyan by the name of Goku." I said, displaying my impressive log sized arms in a powerful flex. He whistled in appreciation.

"Thought it was just the three of you, including Raditz?" He pounded on his chest like a gorilla and dramatically ended his brutish display with one of his idiotic poses. I shook my head to answer his question. He understood. "Is that right? Well, we're under orders by Lord Frieza. It's a bit of a shame, but the saiyan race is about to be extinct."

I smirked at him, giving him my own finale of pumps and finished by having the shirt rip by the sheer size of my chest muscles. He clapped again, clearly impressed by my showy performance. Even though I didn't like Recoome and he sure as hell didn't like me, our massive muscle mass demanded each other's respect. "Won't happen," I said. "You don't have a chance against me."

At this, Recoome gave a hearty laugh. He slapped his knee mockingly, and his two friends chortled along with him. At last, wiping a fake tear from his eye, he glared at me. "That was pretty funny. Nappa, you're just an elite saiyan soilder. The highest your power level ever clocked was a measly five thousand." He shook his head and gave me a pitying look. "You're the big fish in the small pond, as they say. But here, you're weak. You've got an impressive body, that's it."

Growling, I approached and taunted him. "Come prove that to me, then."

Suddenly, he charged me with speed befitting his power. I was prepared, however, and expertly dodged his left hook. Several months ago, that same left hook that I was following easily now would have been practically invisible to me. This strength behind the left hook would have decapitated me, but now it would have simply stung a little. That simple dodge illustrated to me just how far I've come in my training. I saw his gaze of shock as his attack didn't connect last for a second, but then he gave me a flurry of attacks immediately after. He was hitting air and I left each attack missing me at wider and wider intervals. Recoome was strong and graceful, but he didn't have much for actual martial arts. His insane power and speed were more than enough for most combatants.

Not this time, however.

He roared in anger. "Stop dodging like a fairy, Nappa! FIGHT ME!"

I had hoped to toy with him more to get warmed up. Unfortunately he wasn't strong enough for even that. Instead of dodging his next punch, I grappled him down and slammed him down into the ground hard. The shock on his face when it collided into the ground was priceless. I backed away quickly waiting for him to get up. He did, and snarled at me. "You weakling! You can't beat me with speed and special maneuvers! Fight me with your strength!"

We locked hands and began a pushing contest. Surely he'd be satisfied knowing that I'm stronger than him with a show of brute strength. His gleeful face as he tried to push me back turned to cold fear when I didn't budge. I pushed myself and unleashed the Kaio-Ken technique. I pushed him back, and he shook his head in shock. He denied it over and over. He was stronger than I was. He was supposed to be the brute strength of the team! I didn't care much about that, and kept pushing him.

Recoome opened his mouth and fired an energy blast into my face before I could react. He then elbowed me hard with his full strength, and then sent me crashing down into the ground. I was in a slight daze from the energy attack as he stepped on what he thought was my lifeless body.

He jeered at Goku, Vegeta, and the others. "So who's next? Orange man, you better bring as much fight or more than your friend here, unless you want to be next." He made emphasis by crushing my body with his foot. He laughed harsh, mocking laughter at my team.

I made a noticeable twitch, to which Recoome fell silent. He watched in awe as I rose up from the ground with a grin on my face. "I almost felt that," I said, wiping some blood from my lips as he backed away in shock. The look on his face was priceless. I roared loudly and unleashed Kaio-Kenx10. It felt like my body was on fire, my energy wanted release from my body. I had to act now! Under a second, I charged at Recoome as he did to me with a left hook. He couldn't see it coming and wasn't prepared, a very bad combination. It connected, and I saw how his head bounced against my fist. I saw his pupils stare at nothing as he ungracefully fell onto his face. I released the technique, and felt odd. It felt as though every muscle in my body was being pinched or something. This all happened in a second or two, how much would this hurt if I used it for a full minute? An hour? Oh boy, this would take getting used to.

Despite that, I grinned at my comrades, to which only Goku grinned back. The other three were in awe. I hastily picked up Recoome and threw him away from the arena they had been using to make room for the next fighters. Goku stepped up and motioned at the two Ginyu members, who were not amused at the performance. Still feeling damn good about actually beating a member of Frieza's elite force, I retreated from the fight to let Goku have his fun.

* * *

Burter, the blue snakelike alien known primarily for his speed stepped up alongside his orange comrade Jiece. They both seemed as though they were ready to throw down hard against me, but were being blocked by Goku.

"Get out of the way, you five thousand power level weakling," Burter said lowly, clicking off his scouter. "We have a score to settle with Nappa."

Goku shook his head. "Either you get out of here and take your friend with you, or you can join your friend eating dirt."

Jiece got right in Goku's face, challengingly. "And who's going to be putting us into the dirt, you?" He shoved Goku for emphasis. Or, well, he would have, if Goku had not quickly countered the shove by grappling Jiece hard into the ground. Burter stepped away for just an instant, then charged at Goku. Within seconds, Burter and Goku were fighting head to head in the sky.

The orange man with the long dreamy white hair, on the other hand, was just getting back up. He swore loudly at the ground, and before he could join the fight against Goku, he was shoved aside by Vegeta.

He was taken aback for just a second, then grinned evilly. "Veggie? What, you want to throw down too?"

I laughed darkly. What these idiots didn't know was that saiyans inherently get a boost from near death situations. Vegeta had a power boost from the trashing they had given him. Before he was no match for Recoome. Now, he was a match for the other energy level that wasn't Frieza. I knew that, and so did Vegeta, who laughed alongside me. "Yes, won't you indulge me?"

With that, the two sets of fights began. Like me, they were toying with their opponents to get warmed up. We were saiyans after all. We wanted good fights. It was a refreshing sight, watching Vegeta land hard hits on a helpless Jiece. It was even more refreshing to watch Goku fly circles around Burter. Burter! That same asshole who would brag incessantly about being the fastest in the universe!

Kuririn and Gohan had joined me in watching the fights. They were taking their sweet time, wearing them down. It was the child who broke the silence, "I can barely see them move. How did dad get so strong?"

Smirking to myself, I answered him with as little smugness as I could. "Your father and I trained together. Put two saiyans in a room to train and that's what you get."

"What about Vegeta?" Kuririn said. "We all got the hell kicked out of us by that Recoome guy, and now you saiyans are ripping them apart."

I nodded. "As it should be." Eyeing the kid, I smirked. "You have a lot to live up to, half-saiyan."

The boy watched the fights in awe, nodding slightly. The boy had gained strength from the bean's restoration as well. He wasn't as powerful as us pure blooded saiyans, but now he'd be able to contend with the Ginyu Force himself. Well, most of them, just not their freak of a captain. How old even was the boy?

I grunted at the boy, "Say kid, how old are you right now?"

The boy jumped at the sudden question. "Uhm, uh. Five, sir."

Holy damn, the kid's just as young as Vegeta was! I nodded, making a mental note to keep an eye on the boy.

At last, Goku shoved his knee into Burter's stomach with great force. The blue alien didn't see it coming, and it knocked him clean out. I roared with approval as Goku threw the blue body hard on top of Recoome. Yes! A pile of defeated Ginyu Force members to herald the coming of Frieza's end!

Vegeta glanced at the pile of two unconscious Ginyu Force members and scoffed. He punched Jiece hard in the face. The pretty orange man yelped out in pain, and covered his face incapacitated. Vegeta yelled at the two of us. "Kakarrot! Nappa! I expected better from the two of you. Now watch as the prince of all saiyans finishes a fight!"

I frowned, knowing full well what was going to happen. Vegeta punched Jiece in the chest with far too much force. The pretty boy had been preoccupied with his face that he didn't expect his chest to be impaled. Goku roared at Vegeta in disapproval, which Vegeta blatantly ignored while relishing in the moment. Jiece could only stare at Vegeta with fear filled eyes as the only noises he could make were choked gasps. Before the orange soilder could muster out any final words, Vegeta blasted him with incredible force.

All that was left of Jiece was charred hunks.

An angry Goku charged Vegeta. They argued amongst each other about philosophies that I really didn't want to get into. Yes, the Ginyu Force were strong and helpless against us so it'd be a waste to kill them. Yes, they're also very evil and have killed more people than we ever could. Both had their points, but I had no interest in joining that debate, as I didn't particularly care which route we went with. My attention fell down to Gohan and Kuririn, who were clinging behind me now.

"What the hell are you two doing?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kuririn's voice shakily answered me. "Well, you three are on another level of strength now, so we're not getting in the middle of that." He finished by pointing at the two young saiyans arguing with each other. I shrugged. Kids these days.

While it didn't matter to me personally if I killed or did not kill my opponent despite the sick pleasure it brings me, I would prefer my comrades approval to my own satisfaction if I had to choose between the two. Goku wasn't the type to mercilessly slaughter his enemies. Not due to being a pacifist, but because he enjoys a good fight and if his opponents can give him another in the future, he'd take it. I didn't doubt that's the reason Vegeta and I are still alive now, it would have been a waste for us to die when we could get this strong.

A cold sweat went down my back. What if the boy wanted to spare Frieza? Why the hell hadn't I thought of that? I glanced toward the pile of Ginyu soldiers. These were harmless to us now, but an incapacitated Frieza needed to be executed. Frieza was far, far too dangerous to keep alive, even if we were immortal.

Ginyu himself, however, could be spared alongside these two. Ginyu was more eccentric and goofy than pure evil. I tore my mind of such thoughts. More important than that, I had some questions for the two little ones. "So, where're the balls?"

Gohan touched his fingers together sheepishly. "Their captain took off with all of them, now we don't know where the Dragon Balls are."

I scanned the area for energies. There were two large power levels, one was absolutely massive and the other just barely a match for me at my maximum, the same ones I felt upon landing. These would be Frieza and Ginyu respectively. Frieza was on the move somewhere, while Ginyu was overseeing some weaker energies. Ginyu and the grunts were alone, stationary. Which of the two had the Dragon Balls? Regardless of which, it would be wise to fight Frieza alone with our full force, which meant the only strategically sound move was to defeat Ginyu before the two regrouped to give us a harder time.

It seems cowardly, but any edge we can get would be best.

Without a word, I hoisted the two unconscious giant Ginyu members over my broad shoulders. It would be better to know where they are, maybe use them as bargaining chips rather than just let them rot here. They weren't dead, but that didn't mean they wouldn't be dead. It turned my stomache to watch the two young saiyans still bickering amongst themselves. They seemed as though they were on the verge of initiating combat. How many minutes have we already wasted not charging Ginyu?!

I charged into the middle of both of them lugging my cargo. They both seemed taken aback.

Vegeta recovered first. He raised an eyebrow at me, "What are you doing with that, Nappa? Put those vermin down."

To disobey a direct order from Vegeta took nearly all the mental fortitude I had. It had been so long that I heard his voice, I almost complied immediately. I shook my head as if trying to get a moth out of my face. "Ginyu and Frieza are separated. Ginyu had the balls last and chances are he still has them." Nudging my head in Ginyu's direction, I added, "Our main objective are the balls, men."

Both Vegeta and Goku nodded in agreement. Despite the fact that they weren't complete allies yet, they knew what our priorities are. Still, it unsettled me that we weren't a fully functioning unit yet. But this is what we wanted in the endgame. We wanted Goku to join us in the battle against Frieza, and now here we were together, launching an assault on Frieza's most powerful general and then possibly on the tyrant himself. After beckoning Gohan and Kuririn, we flew together towards Ginyu's location.

* * *

We had a short while to fly and were conglomerated into one group flying together. Kuririn gave me the abridged version of what's happened over the last six days, along with Vegeta chiming in, practically bragging about executing Dodoria, Zarbon, and then Guldo. A felt my heart do a little jig hearing those two insufferable stooges were dead. Guldo was just an evil little creep, nobody would miss him. I could tell that Kuririn intentionally left out some information from our quick briefing. There were noticeable holes in his information. Perhaps he didn't want to let Vegeta know something. The possibility irritated me. I would have to scold him and wring the information out of him later, in private if needed. After he filled us in with the basics, we split into our own little groups.

Goku and his lot were talking amongst themselves. Whether it was the boy's way of giving me space to chat with Vegeta or that he didn't want to speak with him now due to the argument, I did appreciate the gesture. The problem was that it's been a while, and so much has happened during the time we've been apart. I didn't know where to start to even begin a conversation.

Vegeta broke the silence easily with one of his considering 'hm' noises. He then stared me right in the eyes. "How is it that you and Kakarrot have gotten so powerful? What sort of training did you two undertake?"

"On our six day trip here, Goku and I underwent gravity training. We got used to a hundred Gs of their gravity, and…"

His gaze hadn't dropped and he waited for me to continue through his contemplative stare. I continued, "He taught me this technique that amplifies your power but takes a heavy toll on your body."

The prince had a curious expression, as if he were considering my words. "Interesting. You'll need to demonstrate that ability, it may be a boon for our upcoming battle against Frieza."

I lit up at that. We're finally a team again! I controlled my giddiness and emotions while flying next to him in silence. It was just like old times. I wanted to exchange more words, but the prince didn't seem interested. Again, just like old times.

After a few minutes of flying silently, he broke the silence again. "For a moment, I had thought the two of you had become super saiyans. How silly of me, to think that anybody but the prince of all saiyans would achieve the legend."

Super Saiyan. Vegeta was the most likely candidate for the legend. All the saiyans knew the legend of the super saiyan back on planet Vegeta. It was a sort of story to motivate our soldiers to always keep progressing. Not that such motivation was needed as we all had a competitive spirit to fight and better ourselves. I didn't know if I believed the legend as truth anymore, as it could have just been invented as a carrot on a stick for our entire race. Be that as it may, I dared never to voice my doubts to the prince, who held onto the legend as fact. I nodded at him in agreement, to which he chuckled lowly to himself.

Nearing our target destination, which looked like Frieza's personal ship, we flew in silence. Right as we were about to land in front of Ginyu's energy level, Vegeta gave me one last glare. "Don't forget to whom your loyalties lie, Nappa," Vegeta said, before landing in front of the captain himself.

I hesitated before landing beside him. There was something chilling in that statement. It was as if I needed reminding that our alliance with the earthlings was tenuous. If I needed to choose one side or the other…

I didn't want to think about that. So I didn't.

* * *

Once we all landed, I threw the unconscious Ginyu member bodies to the ground away from the inevitable battlefield. The captain gawked at his fallen men, while the grunts of the pack fell behind the captain.

Ginyu regained his composure fairly quickly and took a more assessing gaze to the pile and to our party. He smirked. "Oh my dear Veggie, you had reinforcements? I knew I should have taken you for myself."

The prince folded his arms, an equally sized smirk on his lips. "A mistake you won't live long enough to regret."

The captain let out a low chuckle. "How crass, coming from the saiyan who was practically wetting himself in front of my team." He glanced at our group and inspected Goku. "Your manservant and this orange clad boy was enough to turn the tables on my men? Well fine then. Allow me to demonstrate the power that is Captain Ginyu!"

He took on a fighting pose and beckoned the group to attack, as if all at once. The prince jeered at the captain, then turned to me and Goku.

"In honor of the dead," The prince said, giving a wicked smile to our direction, "Let's do this the 'Ginyu' way. Rock, Paper, Scissors. Winner gets Ginyu."

I laughed to myself. Ginyu's squad was notorious at playing stupid games deciding who had the 'honor' of executing a foe. Having killed two of his members and beaten two others within an inch of their lives, doing this in front of Ginyu must have been rubbing salt in the wound. The captain couldn't object or comment on the absurdity of our actions because to do so would be hypocritical in reference to his team. I didn't have to look at Ginyu to feel the insulted, dirty expression he was throwing at us.

Goku either didn't feel his animosity, understand the underlying insult to Ginyu, or just didn't care. He just seemed happy to have a chance at the big guy. We played 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' for a good ten rounds. In the end, as if by fate, it was Goku who won. Leaving Vegeta and I to grumble to ourselves while Goku got the good fight.

I knew full well Vegeta wanted to rip Ginyu limb from limb from all the condescending remarks he's made throughout the years. "Get on with it then, Kakarrot," he spat out, turning to the Frieza employed grunts with a renewed sadism. I watched Goku and Ginyu clash against each other into the sky, far above Frieza's ship. The prince had marched up to the crowd of Frieza's soldiers, who stepped away clearly frightened.

He put his hands on his hips and smiled wide. "Let's play another game while they're fighting, shall we? For every minute that Captain Ginyu is locked in combat, I'll kill one of you. How's that sound?"

Most of them objected, mortified. Some didn't say a word and immediately fled. I couldn't help but snicker, this was so very like the prince. Vegeta made quick work of the fleeing cowards. It wasn't a surprise, he had the fighting capabilities to outclass Ginyu now, so his prey had no chance. He wagged his finger as if he was scolding a naughty child. "Ah ah ah, fleeing results in immediate termination. If there's no other objections, I'll begin," he finished with far too much enthusiasm.

I tried to keep the screams of soldiers being picked off one by one out of my head while I watched the two fighting in the sky. They weren't aware of what was happening down here, so they took their sweet time toying with each other. Minutes passed, and the crowd of soldiers had dwindled to a platoon of fifteen or twenty. At first they were defiant, but after the first five went down, the screams became increasingly more pleading.

A husky voice urged at me. "Can't you do anything, Nappa?" I turned down to see Kuririn glaring at Vegeta with clenched teeth. The prince was pointing at a short ugly looking lizard of an alien while pretending to look at his wrist as a watch. The lizard was oozing fear.

Kuririn. I liked this short guy. That is to say, he brought me food when I wanted it and he's a decent enough fighter. Now, he was requesting me to stand against my prince to save Frieza's soldiers? Did he have a screw loose?

I coughed. "They're your enemies. Didn't some of these guys blow up your ship?"

The short bald man struggled with a retort. "That was then, this just seems like a senseless slaughter. You can't be okay with this, right?" He looked at me pleadingly.

Using my tail to scratch my head, I shrugged. "These are evil, evil bastards. Don't look if you can't stomach it."

Kuririn turned away from me, but not before giving me a pained expression. Was that disappointment? Resentment? Betrayal? Somehow, that hurt me more than it should have.

Vegeta's voice tore me from my thoughts. "Oh, that's too bad. Another minute up, and so is your life, grunt," he said, charging an energy blast.

The little ugly lizard gurgled helplessly and then yelled out. "Please! I have a family! I just want to see my brother! PLEASE!" he shrieked, crying onto the floor, his head bowed low.

At this, the prince lowered his hand charging the blast and dissipated it. His voice came out as a growl. "What's your name, Lizard?"

Amazed, the lizard soldier looked up, tears in its slits. "P-Plantain…" he whimpered, wiping snot from his face.

Vegeta nodded, lowering his hand just a little bit lower. "Alright Plantain, and are you the weaker brother, or the stronger brother?"

"Weaker! Please…"

The prince stood in silence for a few minutes. I could practically hear the gears in his head turning as he stared at the repulsive lizard cowering for his life. Vegeta heaved a heavy sigh. "Very well, I'll make sure you see your brother again."

I was in awe. Vegeta hadn't let anyone escape his wrath before. It was unheard of. I turned to take a glance at the boy and Kuririn. They were both in equal amounts of shock. They didn't have any context, but the prince was an older brother. Tarble was sent to a far off planet to not be a hindrance, it went completely unnoticed once the takeover by Frieza occurred. Vegeta and I felt no need to let Frieza know of such seemingly unimportant information. We never even let Raditz know.

But after all that time since he's seen his brother, he still has such fond memories of his baby brother? Who would have thought Vegeta had such a soft spot? What's more, how lucky is this lizard to have touched it?

I watched as Plantain processed this information. His slit eyes went wide. "Really?"

The prince smiled. "Of course. You'll see him soon." Vegeta broke out laughing, "IN THE NEXT DIMENSION!" he finished, before incinerating the lizard man into nothing.

I should have known.

While Kuririn turned away in disgust, Gohan clenched his teeth hard. I could tell it was taking all his self-control to not go over there and tackle Vegeta. A five year old attempting a fist fight with the world's strongest man would normally be something I'd be interested in seeing. Not today however.

"Oi," I said, resting my hand on the child as he watched Vegeta laugh maniacally, "Don't forget kid, these guys are pure evil. Slaughtered countless people under Frieza. These aren't innocent civilians like you've got on Earth, these are power hungry monsters."

To feel the boy's rage vibrate under my hand was certainly something. I had pulled most of that out of my ass, thinking that was what Gohan needed to hear at the time. In truth, most of Frieza's henchmen are given the option to join or die. Most really did hate doing what they did, and there's a chance that there were a few that Vegeta slaughtered that were good people coerced into doing bad things. Of course, there wasn't a shortage of people joining Frieza's army voluntarily, and they were the real monsters. However, those kinds of people were a minority.

But the boy didn't need to know that. I felt his rage boil down a little bit after he swallowed my lie. It didn't feel bad lying to the kid. Knowing brats, I just saved him from an ass beating delivered from Vegeta. I pat his head. He was a good brat.

* * *

As if on cue, Ginyu came crashing down behind us. The beaten, mangled body of Captain Ginyu struggled to get up while a barely scratched Goku landed infront of him with his arms folded. "If that's all you have, go home while you still can, captain."

The snarling purple man struggled to get back up. He was definitely done, his energy levels were completely depleted. His face changed from angry to shocked to pleased. Then, he suddenly had a very wild expression about him, and flung his arms outwards. "Change… NOW!"

A bright flash of light appeared, disabling us all for a few seconds. When it faded Goku's demeanor suddenly changed drastically. He turned to our group with a chuckle. "Alright, let's finish this guy together."

Vegeta raised an eyebrow, but then immediately shrugged grinning. "At last, embracing your brutal nature, Kakarrot? So be it. Right behind you." The now slumped beaten body of Ginyu was on the ground, fallen over from his injuries.

The boy called for his father, Kuririn asked Goku a flurry of questions, the few remaining grunts were calling for their captain in distress. Goku and Vegeta charged an energy blast together, ready to fire and incinerate Ginyu. Ginyu pleaded weakly. "N…Nooo…"

They both fired their blasts with intent to incinerate.

I wasn't a god damned idiot. I went to full power and scooped the bloodied purple man from the blast. Something wasn't right. That was not the same Goku I was forced to stay close to for a solid month. I shook the beaten warrior. "What gravity level did Goku and I train under while on route to Namek?"

"100G." the purple man coughed out. That was all I needed to know. Sure enough, this was Goku.

I roared at the top of my voice. "We're being deceived! Ginyu stole Goku's body! GET HIM!"

The shocked expression on the false Goku's handsome face flashed for a moment, but then it morphed to one of quiet rage. "The charade ends as quickly as it began, it seems. Alright then, feel the power of my new body!"

Several seconds into our 'fight', we realized that Ginyu had no idea how to control the energy in Goku's body. The reason Goku was unfairly powerful was due to the Kaio-Ken technique, a technique Ginyu did not know. So even if Ginyu had Goku's full power, it would still be weak compared to what Goku could do with it. Vegeta's fast blows practically had Ginyu on his knees.

I grabbed Goku's hair and smashed his face onto the ground. The helpless Ginyu couldn't do anything against my power even without my Kaio-Ken ability. Gohan and Kuririn stood behind and watched. The two of us were more than enough for Ginyu.

"I don't understand!" Ginyu cried from within Goku, being smashed onto the ground by me again and again. "He was stronger than me! How could weak things like you… BE BEATING ME?!"

We pounded Goku's body into pulp. A few minutes in and hearing Goku's agonized voiced told me this wasn't working, Ginyu wasn't being ejected. There must be a way to reverse this. After smashing his face especially hard into the ground, I whispered in Goku's monkey ear, "Change back, it's your only hope of survival. I'll rip you limb from limb."

"Alright! Alright! I'll change back! Stop hitting me!" He yelled. Vegeta gave Ginyu one last good kick to the gut and fell back. I set Goku in front of Ginyu. The orange clad warrior stretched out his arms again and took a deep breath. "Can't believe I'm doing this… again! CHANGE…"

I watched, arms folded. Suddenly, the boy spun around and faced Vegeta, a wild grin on his face. Fear gripped me. No, if Ginyu got Vegeta's body, then it'd be up to me to fight Vegeta.

That's something I would not do. The area flashed brightly as it did before. There was no time left…

"NOW!"

There had to be something I could do. Vegeta wasn't dodging, he was being taken surprise and couldn't move. I looked around wildly at the area. What could I do?!

Nothing. Alone, there was nothing I could do to stop. It was then when I found Kuririn's face. Next to the confused and shocked Gohan was Kuririn's hard gaze locked onto me. I knew what he wanted me to do. No, he knew what we had to do in order to prevent Ginyu from having his way. He stretched out his arm wordlessly and I grabbed it. Then, using the Kaio-Kenx10, I threw Kuririn as hard as I could in between Vegeta and the Ginyu possessed Goku.

It was too bright to see the outcome, but once everything went back to normal, I could see that it had worked. I saw the short bald man looking around wildly near the bewildered Vegeta. I looked at the beaten and broken Goku. He wore a pained, triumphant expression on his face.

* * *

Author's Notes: Hey look at me. I didn't make you guys wait another three months before posting. There's a reason for that.

Next chapter is going to be my absolute favorite chapter. I'm already typing it. It's gonna be damn good. DAMN good.

Oh, and for the first and probably only time, I'm going to be answering questions and responding to all comments next chapters from commenters and stuff. Not as an incentive to comment, but because next chapter is going to be special. Very very special. God damn it's gonna be good.

As always, feel free to PM me any questions or whatever. See you next time, or see you in my inbox.


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